Do Re Mi
by Dragon Kite
Summary: She was exhausted. "Please... stop... Soul..." But he didn't. SxM
1. Night of the Piano

**I couldn't help but** write a SoulXMaka story. I'm sorry, it's kind of short. I like how it looks on a 1/2 page than a whole page. sweatdrop

**If you find any spelling/grammar errors, **tell me, please! I'll fix'em right up! ;) If I get enough reviews, I'll write a second chapter.

**Note: **The notes are spelled the Japanese way. Such as... Re Ray... Ti Tee. I bet you'll get it.

**Do Re Mi**

"...Soul," Maka shuffled though her ingredients lying on the kitchen counter. She finished, "Soul wanted extra tomato... hmm..." Maka grabbed two tomatoes and washed them thoroughly, humming along to a familiar song. She couldn't remember where she heard it, but it was kind of creepy. Yet, she loved the sweet tune as she cooked.

She finally got the food into the oven and cranked up the nob. The oven heated up, and Maka left the kitchen, still humming the tune. She wished she knew how to play an instrument; she was jealous that Soul could play the piano. Suddenly, an idea sparked. Maybe he could...

Maka ran to the living room and spotted Soul sleeping. Damn. She really didn't want to wake him up. She figured she'd just make the request later.

Her book lay on the table next to Soul. Was he reading it? That idiot? Probably not. Maka picked it up, sat herself at the far end of the couch from Soul, and began to read about weapons. The idea of playing piano continued to distract her studying. It came to a point where she placed the book in her lap and began to pretend to play.

She realized she was making a fool out of herself, and turned to look at Soul, peacefully sleeping on the couch. His chest expanded and deflated slowly. His eye lids covered his ruby eyes, unfortunately for Maka. Maka tended to smile more when she saw his eyes.

Maka snapped out of her trance and gently placed the book on the table. The oven beeped loudly a couple times.

A few minutes later, the food was placed on the table, and Maka stood over Soul, trying to figure out a way to tell him. She decided she shouldn't bother, so she sat down once again to eat her food. The food, once again, proved excellence, but something seemed to be missing.

Maka once again looked at Soul, and couldn't help but to keep staring. Her eyes wandered from his head to his toes. Soul appeared to be peaceful. Maka tilted her head to the side, watching him breathe deeply. She slowly started to crawl closer to Soul, who had no idea of her presence.

Maka's hands gripped the couch on either side of Soul. When she realized her position, she blushed a tomato red color, and rolled off the couch, landing on the floor with a thud. She wanted so badly to book chop herself, but that would be silly.

As she was even closer to Soul, the air around him felt warm. She sat up on the floor and looked at his smooth face. Why couldn't she stop looking at him? He always slept here. Why was this moment so different? She figured it was her eagerness to ask him to do that one thing... just to show her... to help her...

Maka closed her eyes and rested her head on the front of the couch, perpendicular to Soul's head. Sleepiness took her over. She felt like closing her eyes and just breathing. Her eyelids gently shut and her body became limp.

Soul sat in front of a strange piano in the middle of darkness. His ruby eyes searched for something he had been expecting for a while now. He had to wait longer. If he didn't, he'd surely miss the opportunity.

What was he thinking? Maka was probably done with the food. She wouldn't... she would be eating. He felt maybe he should give up and waken. No, he wanted to stay... just for another five minutes.

Soul ran his fingers across the keys of the piano. Man, he was too cool today to be in this condition. But then again, if this event happened, he'd be the coolest guy of all time. He swung his legs around the seat and began to tap the keys in order of pitch. Soul didn't feel like playing a song now. He just wanted _it_ to happen... then maybe he would.

He had heard her crystal clear. She remembered.

"Soul..." a voice behind him said weakly.

Soul turned around to see Maka in that beautiful obsidian dress she wore whenever she entered his soul. Maka seemed extremely confused as she asked, "Why am I here?"

Soul chuckled and scooted over on the seat, letting Maka sit down.

"I think it's because you fell asleep _extremely _close to me," Soul smirked, showing his shark-like teeth.

Maka blushed and brushed her finger over a piano key. Now was her chance to ask him the favor. But what if he didn't want to? What if she could never do it? Maka's hands shook as she pressed a key.

Soul smiled. He couldn't think of a better why to do this, or to tell her. Maka was actually there in his soul. He placed his hand on Maka's and held it gently.

Maka abased her head and let her freehand lie on top of the piano keys. She bit her lower lip and sighed.

Soul raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is something bugging you?"

"Soul," Maka finally said after silence. "Will you teach me how to... play piano?"

"Heh heh" Soul chuckled. "I thought you might ask. I heard you humming the song I played for you that one time..."

"Oh," Maka's eyes widened. _That's_ what it was. The song he played. That dark melody. She remembered his concentrated face, and his loose fingers. Soul seemed to enjoy himself as he played that tune, that awfully dark and insane tune. Maka remembered clearly. Very clearly.

"...so will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Teach me..." Maka made herself clear as she brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"You seem to be in a good mood right now," Soul pointed out, patting her back. "I guess it's worth a try. What kind of guy rejects a simple request such as this?"

"Idiot..." Maka muttered. "Stop worrying about your reputation." She pressed a bunch of random keys at once, creating an unpleasant sound.

Soul sighed and said, "Please save the practicing until you know_ something_."

"Fine. You're still an idiot. Men get that title by default," Maka explained before letting her feet touch the ground again.

Silence once again overruled Soul's soul. Maka kept staring at the glamorous piano that stood before. This instrument had massive power in both battle and mood. She stood, still in awe at what her abilities may soon be.

Meanwhile, Soul reran the basics through his head, figuring out where to start with Maka. Unfortunately, he kept getting distracted by her enchantment to the piano. He noticed her green eyes had softened, and her breathing took a steady pace.

He gulped. Soul had to tell her that thing, or else he'll be messing up while teaching her. He had to either (a) overcome his distraction and leave it for later or (b) tell her now and become the coolest guy ever or the most uncool kid in the face of the earth. Depends on the impact of her book chop. On that note, he made sure there weren't any books around.

Maka grunted, "So what's first?"

"Um..." Soul drooled while darting his eyes to the keys. "First, you should know the notes."

"Eh?"

"Do... re... mi..."

"Oh!" Maka smiled, "Do, re, me, so, la, do, re, fa, ti, la..."

Soul laughed and said, "No, no." He guided her hand to the piano and pressed her finger on each note as he spoke, "Do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti, do."

Maka nodded and repeated, "Do, re, me, fa, so, ti..."

"So, _la_..."

"So, la, ti, do?"

Soul nodded back and asked, "Repeat it again, please?"

Maka coughed and pressed the keys as she remembered the notes as, "Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do!" Maka grinned with joy.

"Not bad. You accidently played one note up, but you've got the idea," Soul pointed his thumb to his chest, "Thanks to a very cool guy."

Maka rolled her eyes and corrected her mistake while whispering the names of the notes again. She replaced the names with a hum. Her head moved slightly from side to side as she played the notes over and over again.

"Maka..." Soul spoke her name with a soft tone, so quiet, she couldn't hear him. There was absolutely no way a guy like him would pass up this opportunity. He just had to tell her. He had to just... just... let it all out. Soul's eyes wandered to space, thinking of a clever way to bring it up.

"Soul," Maka said, "I suddenly feel stronger." She did. Maka smiled as she thought of what this connection to Soul could do to their wavelength. She stared into the palm of her hand and continued, "Thanks."

"No problem," Soul said.

Maka couldn't help but take a peek at Soul's face. He looked very relaxed and calm, but at the same time, tense and thoughtful. Surely, something was bothering her scythe. "Are you okay?"

Soul jumped in his seat, "Y-yeah. I'm cool."

"No, you aren't," Maka said, grabbing his wrist and pulling on him to face her. "Are you considering changing your mind? Is this becoming too stressful? We can stop, you know. The food's been ready for a while."

"No!" Soul shouted. Maka cringed. He quickly corrected himself, "No... I don't want to stop."

"Then what's going on?" Maka demanded to know. Suddenly, she felt the need to back off. He appeared to be upset. She recalled that if she was stress out, he gave her the option to tell him; he never required her to share her problems with him.

"I'm... sorry," Maka apologized, turning away.

"Maka!" Soul grabbed her shoulder and turned her back to face him."There's something important I have to tell you, but I don't know how you'll take it."

Maka sighed and closed her eyes. Something he wants to tell her? What was it? Whatever it was, she noticed it was a distraction to him, and she didn't want him distracted during her lesson. She needed to know. "Tell me."

"I... don't know how to," Soul muttered, looking away.

"Psh, the cool guy? If you were so cool you'd tell me now," Maka demanded, "Is it something terrible? If it's that serious, then just let it out, you idiot. Okay?"

Soul began to open his mouth. He succeeded to let out an noise that sounded like, "I..."

Maka leaned her face towards his. "You... you what?"

Soul closed his mouth and took a deep breath. He suddenly smirked. Soul let out an evil chuckle and drooled a bit, blushing in the process. He asked, "Is it okay if I show you?"

"Er... sure...?" Maka agreed, tilting her head to the side in confusion. She didn't understand what there was to show, in this dark emptiness.

Suddenly, she felt warmth around her waist. Her eyes looked to the side and saw nothing but white hair. Maka felt Soul in a tight embrace. His hands rested on her waist. Maka smiled and asked in his ear, "So what is it?"

Soul instantly let her go. "You don't get it? Damn, you're so dense!" He let his hands meet contact with her waist once again. "Think hard about past events. Just... think. Seriously, if _you_ can't even figure it out, I swear-"

Maka closed her eyes, recalling past events. There was the everyday life at school, her friends, and her missions. She recalled that they were on their 47th soul. She recalled that it was recently Patty's birthday. She recalled it being Saturday today. She still couldn't figure it out. Past events? Seriously, Maka needed a way better clue. Soul wasn't being cool at all.

But suddenly, a rush of thoughts came.

_Don't touch her!  
I'm prepared to die for my technician!  
I really like you,  
Give me your hand...  
Are you okay?  
What's wrong?  
Maka.  
Maka!  
Maka!!  
MAKA!!_

It clicked.

It finally clicked.

But she was too late. Soul had grown impatient. In a swift, sudden movement, Soul brought Maka's lips to his, and he finally kissed her. Maka felt Soul's lips - he was on fire. Maka closed her eyes and took in the message - the whole thing. _He loved her_. Her stomach turned over and her heart beat sped up. This feeling of care and partnership had evolved in just those few moments of bliss. Soul tilted his head to the side to kiss her with more passion. Maka's head grew dizzy. She didn't quite know how to respond, but to just let him release his emotions. _Soul..._ she thought. _I may just love you, too._

Maka's eyes began to water. Her tears rushed down her cheeks. She felt Soul's finger wipe them away as he continued to kiss her with such passion. Maka never had never experienced this before. Her heart felt strong, but weak. Her mind felt clear, but dizzy. Her body felt relieved but tired. Her soul felt love, and nothing else.

Soul broke away unwillingly and smiled. That whole time, she didn't budge. She never pulled away and kicked him. He smirked and cupped her cheek. The cool guy won again. He said, "Please don't tell me you _still_ don't understand."

Maka's eyes opened, and the smell of her food overwhelmed her nose. Her eyes adjusted to the light. Her body lay on the couch, embraced by Soul. Soul rested his chin on the top of her head. Maka closed her eyes again and thought, _Screw the food_.

Soul said, "You smell nice."

Maka scooted closer to him, burying her face in his chest. She whispered, "I get it."

"Good," Soul whispered.

Maka hummed against Soul's chest. _Do... re... mi..._


	2. Taking a Step at a Time

**Oh my gosh, I love you all!** I've gotten so many reviews, that I started crying last night. I thought '_Hey, maybe I should expand this_'. So, here you have it. My present to my wonderful reviewers. You are all so amazing, that I'm going to try to lengthen this as much as I possibly can. It's a harsh road out there, in the fan fiction road, but I'll make it!

Oh, and this chapter was written right after I finished 'Catcher in the Rye'. I think I may have had some influence somewhere in there from it. Sorry. And sorry this chapter is so boring. I tried to address a problem I saw a review bring up about Soul's uneasiness on physical contact. See, the problem is, I wrote the first half of this right after the first chapter, then stowed it away, so the first half and second half might contradict to each other in small details. Also, as I read it over and over, I see more and more spelling and grammar errors, so if you see one, let me know and I'll fix it.

Bananas are awesome.

**And since I forgot a Disclaimer...** Idon'townSoulEateralthoughIwishIdidsomuch,thatI'vebeenplaningtosteelthedeedtoitfromwhats-his-namemrperfectmangaka. So... yeah. Don't tell anyone. I'll be doing it this Saturday.

**And if you take things too seriously,** I'm just kidding.

**Before you start reading:** I encourage you to review because it encourages me to write more. I'd love to hear from those folks who only browse. So, it all you browsers... please please please review!

**Do Re Mi**

Not only had she grown accustomed to her partner's random compliments, but she's also got the hang of maintaining a decent relationship. Maka didn't find it too awkward with Soul, actually. She expected the past three weeks to be silence and glares, but it had been fairly smooth. She couldn't say it was absolutely perfect, but it had only been three weeks. You can't expect much while using most of your time practicing the piano.

Soul found it entertaining to just watch from the corner of the room. He would spot her pondering over the keys, then sit carefully in the corner. Looking up at Maka was like looking up at a Goddess. Of course, he would never say that out loud - it would ruin his reputation.

He loved her. He never said it that past week, but he loved her. He figured saying it wasn't going make it sincere enough, so he tried to use actions instead of words. Not too much kissing and shit, but stuff like doing the dishes for her, studying with her, taking her on trips to the park, etc. Cool guys don't overly drool on their girlfriends. Besides, Soul wasn't the kind who enjoyed much physical contact anyways.

Maka on the other hand, tried to cuddle any second they were on the couch together. She suspected Soul's uneasiness, so she grew determined to unlock the inner desire in him. She had made a couple trips to the library to check out romance novels. Currently, she was indulged in N. H. Tama's _Seldom Hearts_, and had finished _The Only Blue Rose_ by Cindy Karlsdough.

Another activity she just recently became addicted to, was music hunting. For the past three weeks, Soul had taken to her to the park a few times, where some of Death City's finest musicians played in the gazebo area. Maka would drag Soul to the brick wall that circled around the area, and she would lean on his stomach as he leaned on the wall. She would pull out her notebook and write down all the artists that she liked. For example, she loved Street Orchestra's soft tone, and Hillside Symphony's volume and power. Her favorite groups were the ones who had a member on the piano. When she got home, she would try as hard as she could to replay what she heard. It was impossible for her, but as easy as taking a breath for Soul.

Soul took up the hobby of writing for a while. Even though it annoyed the shit out of him, he found himself to be truly excited about it. What really pissed him off, was that every time he created a story, it'd have the same premise. Boy's a stuck up bastard. Boy gets lucky. Boy gets money. Boy keeps winning fights. (And the occasional Boy gets girl).

But no matter how many times he did this, Maka would read them and compliment it like a madman. It killed him. It really killed him. She would ask every hour, "Hey, Soul! Finish anything?" and he would reply, "Yes. The boy just found a winning lottery ticket." Even if he hadn't finished anything, she would run over and read it like a child waking up to find Christmas presents under the tree. After a while Soul realized why he suddenly liked to write so much. Watching Maka spaz over a piece that he had written made him feel extremely cool.

After two weeks of nonstop writing, Soul quit it. He grew uninterested in that, and more observant of Maka's attempts to replay music she'd heard at the park. When she finished her latest reading project, _Seldom Hearts_, she focused her attention on the piano. Soul spent more and more time teaching her more than anything. They'd spend the darkest hours of the day tapping the elegant keys of the grand instrument that brought them closer. Maka let Soul lead her in the music, just as he's lead their dances before.

One day, some things had to be discussed:

The moon shown through the window of the apartment. A G note rang through the air, then all was silent. After a few moments without sound, Soul got up from the piano bench and started to walk towards his bedroom door. Maka frowned. He had left without a word.

She got up and decided to try to follow him. Her eyes peeked though his bedroom door. She watched him sit on his bed and look through the window - simply starring at the invisible stars obfuscated by city lights. He yawned and fell backwards onto the bed and closed his eyes.

Soul turned his head towards Maka with the knowledge that he was followed. He said, "Why don't I hear music?"

Maka came in and plopped herself onto his bed. She looked down at him as she put a stand of her hair behind her ear. "Hmm?" she moaned a question.

"I wanted to see the sky and hear the piano at the same time, but it's okay," Soul explained.

"Oh, should I-?" Maka started as she began to get up.

"No!" Soul interrupted. "Stay here."

Maka nodded, but got up anyways to close the bedroom door and open the window. A rush of cool air flew in. In union, Soul and Maka took a deep breath of the wind.

Soul couldn't remove his eyes from the sight. The wind blew Maka's hair from an angle as she took out the bands holding her pigtails. He could see her silhouette clearly defined and delicate. Maka continued to stare out at the city. She suddenly realized her position. Alone with Soul. In his bedroom. She's been like this before, but not since she first asked him to teach her the piano.

But it was the key.

Now that Soul was stationed in his own, private box of space that was all his, he felt slightly more comfortable and daring. With still uneasiness stabbing him in his lungs, he maneuvered his way to Maka and wrapped his arms around her torso. He rested his chin on her shoulder, still not tall enough to be able to rest it on her head. Maka kind of turned her head towards Soul's breathing. She raised an eyebrow, mentally commenting that this was very unSoul-like. Usually, _she_ was the one to start the physical contact.

As if he could read her mind, he whispered in her ear, "I know. I'm not a big fan of this, either." Then, she felt him cringe.

She turned suddenly at the motion, causing Soul to release her. Maka asked, "What? Are you hurt?"

Soul sighed and answered, "For a second, I thought you were going to Maka Chop me. My bad." Then he whispered to himself, "Not cool."

Maka tackled Soul onto his bed. "Idiot!" She said. "I've been trying to get you to be a tad more intimate with me for a while. You really expect me to Maka Chop you at a time like this?"

Soul squirmed under her, feeling slight discomfort. Maka raised an eyebrow. Soul half-heartedly chuckled and clutched the sheets. He said, "Well... uh... heh heh..."

MAKA CHOP!

"What the fuck?" Soul let out these words as he tried to hold his head in one piece. "I thought you said you wouldn't!"

Maka made her way to the door as she opened the book in her hands. She replied, "You ruined the moment anyways, so I gave you a good whack." Her voice trailed off as she opened, then closed the door behind her.

Soul buried his head in his arms.

Dammit. What did _he_ do?

But right outside the door, Maka was silently cheering as she gently rubbed her shoulder where Soul had rested his chin just a minute ago. But her smiles turned upside down and she dropped her book, _The Only Blue Rose_. This wasn't right. Even though the past three weeks were heart warming, and just a minute ago had its golden moment, she didn't feel like she was getting much of the good stuff that comes from relationships like her's with Soul was meant to have.

She shivered.

"Maka, we need to talk," she heard a whisper in her left ear.

Her heels jumped. Soul had startled her. Not just in how he managed to open his bedroom door and sneak up next to her, but also his words. _We need to talk_.

Maka wasn't prepared for the worst. Her blood flowed cold through her small veins. She gulped. Soul didn't hesitate to grab her wrist and pull her to the couch, where he sat her down. She didn't say a word. She couldn't. She knew what was coming. It was over before it began.

It was the second time he had read her mind that night.

"Don't think that, Maka. I'd _never_ let you go," Soul reassured her.

Suddenly Maka felt extremely happy. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. What the hell had gotten into Soul anyways? This kind of felt like a dream. Yet, she was horrifyingly upset.

Maka stood up and kicked the coffee table over. It landed with a crash on the ground. Soul widened his eyes and made his lips circular, as to say, "Oooh...", but the sound never came out.

Maka yelled so loud, the neighbors probably heard, "How could you not let me go if you haven't been holding on to me in the first place?"

Soul yelled back, "I have been Maka, but you're trying to go to fast! Cool guys don't take advantage over their girlfriends!"

"Oh yeah?" Maka questioned as she leaned over him, once again being the one looking downwards. "So your reputation is on the line? Soul, if you love me..."

Soul grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her downwards. He shouted in her face, "What, Maka? What exactly do you want me to do? Because at this point, I won't give a damn about my reputation! I'll just take your virginity right here, right now, and let us regret it later! Do you want that?"

"No!" Maka screamed, "I just want some more of 'us' and 'we', not 'you and me'!"

Soul argued, "I do plenty of that!"

"No, you don't, Soul," Maka said sadly. Realization of something important had suddenly struck her. She took a deep, tear filled breath and sat right next to him on the couch. She covered her heart with her hands and pointed out something strikingly hurtful, "You haven't even told me 'I love you', yet. Soul, I wish you could just show a little bit more affection."

Soul's face transitioned from anger to guilt. She was right. Even the night he first implied it in his soul... he never actually said it. He had kissed her, yes, but anyone could kiss anyone and say it was a mistake. He really did care for her. Maybe it was time to let it out. Maybe he should store away the gentleman he was sometimes. He had to learn to break out of his shell, and tonight, he would break free.

He gently grasped a hand on Maka's heart and lifted it to his mouth. He kissed it, and said, "I'm sorry. It's not cool for me to be too cool is it?"

Maka weakly shook her head and collapsed into his arms, crying. He welcomingly lay her head on his chest and wrapped his arms around her neck. He didn't understand girls too much, but right now, he could feel some of her emotions. They were partners, after all.

The only sound heard was Maka's quiet sobs. Soul looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He waited for Maka to finish. She began to just sniff, but soon ultimately stopped.

Soul sat her up between his legs. Maka rubbed her eyes, ridding the tears contaminated her beautiful face.

Soul hugged her again and whispered, "You know, it's hard for me to admit it, but I really do love you. I really love my meister."

Maka felt like her soul had grown wings. She grinned and turned her body towards Soul. Maka asked politely, "Then may I have a kiss, please?"

And her wish was granted.


	3. Dark Hunter

**ZOMG You guys are amazing,** so I decided to use the time I must be using to write an essay to write another chapter. This chapter is used to establish the current status quo of Maka and Soul, like how old they are now, what time of year it is, etc.

Thanks for your comments. Ka'liss brought up the point that I hadn't changed the story from 'complete' to 'in progress' yet, so I changed that. And I'm going to Barnes and Noble today, so I'll look for the book Xim-chan recommended me, L'Étranger. Thanks to both of you and everyone else who reviewed these past (5) months.

I apologize if this is really short, for I have that stupid damned essay to work on. Plus, this chapter really pushes the T-rating limit in the beginning (no, there's no actual sex, sorry), but there is a huge reference. Just warning you. Be careful.

**Anyways, for those of you who are wondering you the hell I am... **I haven't really introduced myself properly yet. I am Ki the Creative (just call me Ki). Yeah... that's all.

**So review please** and tell me how it is. The disclaimer in chapter 2 applies to the rest of the story.

**Do Re Mi**

When it came to love... well... yeah. Soul didn't know how to love. That was probably his problem. He did chores for Maka, took Maka to her favorite places, told her he loved her once, kissed her twice, and hugged her a billion times (which was actually her hugging him). He knew he loved her, but he was still uncomfortable with breaking his barriers. But someone had to give him credit for being the cool guy. Or not.

Even though he was a cool guy, and a gentleman on top of that, he was fifteen. Fifteen for shinigami's sake! He was very aware of the male hormones, since he felt them kick in once in a while, especially at times when he wish they wouldn't, like now. Soul kind of wanted Maka in a way. Of course, this subject was taboo for him, but he wanted her _so badly_. He meant it that one night, when he said that he would take her virginity right then and there. He really did. And that was the source of his guilt.

Thank god he grew up right.

So it was complicated. He didn't know how to love, yet he loved her. He wasn't into sex or anything icky like that, but he still wanted her body to himself. As he lay on his bed that warm August night, he desired to straighten this all out. With a pen in his hand, he wrote PROS on his left arm, and CONS on his right, with the each letter of the words SEX WITH MAKA in each finger tip (he actually had to squeeze TH on one finger). He gave each arm a tally mark when he found a pro or con.

An instant CON was 'It's not cool'.

An instant PRO was 'I want her'.

An instant CON was 'I love her'. Yet, 'I love her' seemed to fit into both, so he tallied both arms for it.

And the marks on CONS added on and on. Some reasons were 'Pregnant', 'Guilt', 'Regret', 'Too young', 'Not married or shit' and the classic 'Tiny tits'. He even gave a few extra tallies for its uncoolness.

But when he started thinking pro sex, it wasn't pretty. 'I love her', 'She won't mind', 'It's natural', 'We already resonance anyways', 'We're partners', 'We'll enjoy it', all popped into his head at the same time. He frowned as he looked at his arms. Tie.

So he thought and thought and thought. He figured, the next one will determine it. Definitely the next one. He continued to stare at his arms. Staring... staring... until he smiled. 'I'm a chicken'. And that was the end of it.

Suddenly, when he realized he was scared, the weight of the PROS arm held him down. How could be dare _think_ about sex with Maka? His whole left arm was a sin in itself. All those tallies were Kishin's work, not his. Sex was very unSoul-like, and the burden of it all strangled him.

In the bathroom, Maka sat on the counter, taking notes as the black figure in the mirror continued his explanation of courses she would need to take for her final year as a true Shibusen student. After this, she would go off to Death City Enrollment College for two years, and then either go to a real college or work for Shinigami if Soul were to have become a Death Scythe.

"Another thing to remember, Maka," Shinigami pointed out, "Is that you need to balance your technician classes with your academic classes so you don't feel overwhelmed. And I still highly recommend Partner Resonance three, since you seem to not need PR two. Make sure Soul remembers to check that off on his registration card, so you won't have to worry about-"

"Yeah, I know," Maka put her pen down. Shinigami tilted his head in confusion. When Maka realized her mistake, she apologized, "I'm sorry for interrupting you, Shinigami-sama, but... oh, never mind." She tossed the pad of paper onto the floor and jumped off the counter.

Shinigami leaned towards his mirror in concern. "Is there something wrong, Maka?"

Maka nodded her head, refusing to look at him in the eye. She said, "Yes, but no."

"How so?" Shinigami asked.

"Um..." Maka replied, blushing. "I don't think Partner Resonance is going to be effective. I'm not even sure..." Maka paused to keep herself from breaking down. "...if it'll work anymore."

Shinigami gasped. He jumped back to keep a distance. He asked, "Did one of my students just give up?"

"No!" Maka corrected herself, reassuring him that she'd never quit being a technician. "I just... I don't know."

"Hmm..." Shinigami said, rubbing the chin of his mask with his oversized gloved hands, "Are you and Soul fighting?"

Maka shook her head, "No. Just the opposite, Shinigami-sama. Soul and I haven't done any advance Resonating techniques since we started... the opposite of fighting... well... look, I really don't want to talk about it. May I be excused?"

Shinigami smiled under his mask and nodded, "Bye Maka." The mirror turned off, and Maka could see her reflection against it once again. She sighed and pressed her forehead against that stupid reflection of hers. What if her relationship with Soul affected their Resonance? She could still enter her partner's soul, but what about his weapon form? In fact, she hadn't seen her weapon's true form in two months, and that really bugged her.

Soul continued to lay on his bed, pondering his hunger this time. He got over the whole sex-thing and moved onto dinner. He loved Maka's noodles, but he had them four straight nights in a row and needed something different that day. He considered cooking some steak or ordering pizza. And if it wasn't too inconvenient, maybe he'd get Maka to make some of her delicious sushi. That'd be pretty cool. He drooled for some food, but he was to lazy to get up and go get any. Images of different foods invaded is head as he began to fall asleep...

BANG! His bedroom door opened and crashed into the wall! Soul jumped from his place on the bed to see a desperate Maka standing in the doorway.

"Oh shit, not again Maka! You broke the coffee table just last week! We haven't even replaced that yet!" Soul exclaimed.

"Soul!" Maka whined. She rushed to his side and took his hand. She tried to lift him off his bed. She tugged on his arm and commanded, "We need to go outside!"

"Why?" Soul asked, not resisting her hold, but her tugging. He even used his free hand to hold her other wrist.

Maka moaned and tugged harder. She continued to whine, "I need to hold you!"

Soul used his strength to pull her onto the bed with him. He pinned her down as she continued to squirm, trying to drag him out to the outside. He asked, "Why? Can't you just hold me here?"

"No," Maka stopped and rejected his idea. She relaxed her muscles, melting into the softness of Soul's bed. There was no point in struggling - he was kind of stronger. She sighed and gently touched his chest. He cringed slightly at it, but managed a half smile. Maka asked, "Can you remember the last time you were in weapon form?"

Soul shook his head. Was it a month ago? Two months ago? It struck him. He did recently use his arm's blade to rip open a stubborn package the other day, but other than that... er... no. But it wasn't really necessary, right? It was summer break after all and it was quite calm. No missions. No emergency calls. Especially no extracurricular activities. He tossed himself to Maka's side and tried to wrap his arms around her. She felt her shiver in excitement. This was a rare moment for Soul.

Once his hand was on her opposite waist, he rested it there. She smiled and looked up at the ceiling. Maka said, "I figured." He didn't remember. Maka put a hand on Soul's hand and asked, "So do you mind? I need to go outside and hold you... destroy a wall or something."

Soul chuckled and told her, "I'm cool with that."

Suddenly, Soul's arm disappeared. Maka felt the solid metal of the scythe in her hand. She got up and held the scythe out, admiring it through her emerald eyes. Before anyone could blink, Maka dashed out the apartment door.

Thankfully, Soul was still lightweight. Once they were outside, Maka felt this sense of... wholeness. It was a different feeling than she had ever experienced. It was as if she had two souls, either that or there was a bridge from hers to Soul's. The cool air rushed through her pigtails as she ran towards a lamp post. She gave Soul a swing at it, slicing it in two.

Soul grunted, "Hey, you know that's money we'll owe to the city."

"So?" Maka giggled, enjoying her time outside their apartment. They turned the corner, and Maka skipped down the block, coming to an old building that was to be demolished next week. She examined its exterior, considering doing the demolishing herself.

"Come on, Soul, lets perform a true Resonance!" Maka positioned herself to attack.

"I don't know, Maka. Is this really okay?" Soul asked. "You never know..."

"Please."

Soul nodded and reached for her soul. Maka's soul happily grabbed hold of Soul's and merged. The Resonance slowly built up. The fire in their spirits raged and their minds had a rush of pleasure. The connection became tight and nearly uncontrollable. Souls blade curved all the way around, so that Maka was surrounded in a red-violet aurora. Both shouted the very words Maka wanted to hear all day, "Soul Resonance!"

Maka ran in light speed towards the building, dragging Soul. Soul's blade cut the ground in two, and little sparks of red light up. As Maka went for the blow upon the building, she screamed, "Dark Hunter!" Upon Soul's contact on the building, it exploded in hundreds of black pieces. Streams of power expanded outwards, bring total destruction to the outside of the very few buildings around it. The sky vibrantly light up.

Maka and Soul flew backgrounds, hitting against a building out of harm's way. They watched everything crumble in insanity. Their eyes widened.

Soul sat next to Maka in his human form and whispered, "Maybe we should just forget this ever happened."

Maka burst into laughter, followed by Soul's chuckling. Maka said, "And that was without the black blood."

Before they knew it, they spent the right of the hour calming concerned civilians down, assuring them nothing bad happened. The officials did come by and give them a ticket, but Maka knew it was completely worth it.

As Maka and Soul walked back to the apartment, Maka asked, "So what's for dinner?"

"Steak," Soul answered quickly. "That Resonance made me even more hungry, so I'll be cooking lots and lots of steak."

Maka giggled and took Soul's hand. Soul, in fact, was in a every good mood, so he began to swing their arms forward and back. Maka gripped his hand tighter as he made it so that her arm felt like jello. Suddenly, Maka's arm resisted the swinging, and her face sprouted curiosity. She asked, "Hey, what's the tally marks on your arm for?"

Soul froze. If she found out, he'd be dead. He took his hand away and hid them behind his back. Maka tackled him and shouted, "Hey, show me!" She tried to yank his arms forward, but he stiffened his arms, making it so that she couldn't bring them to there view.

"Get off!" Soul argued. "This isn't cool!"

Maka finally peeked above his shoulder and saw his fingers. THMAKA on one hand, and SEXWI on other. She saw the PROS arm and the CONS arm. Her face turned the color of apples.

"Heh heh..." Soul cringed. "Can I remind you how much I love yo-"

MAKA CHOP!


	4. Endless Dead Grass

**Last chapter** just for now. This story is listed as 'complete', but I'll add one more chapter if I get enough reviews.

**This chapter was awkward to write**. I had so much trouble with the ending - it frustrated the hell out of me. I suck at fluff, and I suck at writing fluff without making the characters out of character.

**I really have** nothing much to say other than...

**1.** My next story involves Death the Kidd and Shinigami. Shinigami writes letters to his future heir (Death the Kidd) when he was his son's age, during a time when _everything_ changed. You'll have to read it, it'll be awesome. It'll be called 'A Rainbow's Shadow'.

**2.** I love you all. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

**Ki**

**Do Re Mi**

The small apartment the small building on the small street in the small city...

It was NOT quiet.

Vibrations sung through the morning air, tapping the walls and floors and ceilings. Quick fingers dashed from key to key, outrunning the speed of sound. Only a skilled pianist could accomplish this wonder, as the amateur artist lay silent on the couch. The music alleviated Maka's headache, celebrating the completion of school registration and back to school shopping. The new technique, Dark Hunter, allowed her to take Maintenance I instead of Partner Resonance III. She recalled that Maintenance I meant she had skipped two levels, and was now taking a class for those pairs already containing a death scythe. Her and Soul were only two of the four people attending that class, which was only once a week, but still carried along with it a burden of intense studying.

The music halted in its footsteps. Maka's eyes remained closed, even as her headache slowly returned. A sudden gentle kiss on the cheek caused her to turn her head slowly. She gazed into the eyes of her lover, and prepared for the words she had recently heard much more often than usual.

"I love you," Soul whispered into her ear.

Maka closed her eyes again and nodded. "I know."

Soul sat at on the floor next to the couch. He said, "School starts tomorrow. How do we tell the others?"

"Well," Maka placed a hand on Soul's bush of white hair, still half sleeping. "We could get together with them tonight. Black Star and Tsubaki just came back from Japan, we can arrange something."

Maka's hand slid down to Soul's cheek. He shielded it with his own hand and asked, "What about Kidd, Patty, and Liz?"

Maka barely shook her head. "Last I heard from Liz, she was complaining how Kidd won't come out of his room. Shinigami-sama hasn't looked too enthusiastic either."

"I wonder if something happened," Soul commented.

Maka lifted herself up to a sitting position. She sighed and stared at the ceiling for a while. She wondered how they were going to tell their friends. Maybe just the casual walk around and see if they figure it out. But maybe that won't happen, since the three partners were all in different classes this year. She recalled that classes were very specific in the last year, according to skill level and type of weapon. So it wouldn't help. Maybe she'd call Tsubaki tonight and tell her _everything_, but she didn't want Black Star finding out before school and peeping through their window all night, even though he wouldn't see much action.

Eh, no one has to know. So Maka chose to just keep things calm. Even so, she still wanted to spend some time with them tonight - a get together before the next day, when the opportunity to hang out would decrease drastically. Maka suggested, "Like I offered before, let's do something with Black Star and Tsubaki tonight."

Soul brought himself up to the couch and said, "I don't know. I had something else in mind."

"Hm?" Maka grew interested. She repositioned herself on the couch, crossing her legs and facing Soul.

Soul ignored this and dared not look into her eyes. He knew what her reaction would be at this suggestion of his. He was sure. He suddenly became uncomfortable. With hesitation, he took her hand tightly, "We should go somewhere... just... the two of us."

Maka lowered her head in thoguht before pointing out, "But our friends..."

"Yeah! Yeah! Nevermind," Soul took back the suggestion. "You're right, I'm wrong. Sorry, that wasn't cool." He got up and walked to his room in silence, closing the door behind him.

The tired Maka shook her head and went to her own room to change. She needed some air. Maka quickly changed into a light blue tank top with the letter G on it, and a pair of grey shorts. She fixed her hair into her usual pigtails and slipped on sandals.

The air outside was crystal clear. There was a slight breeze, which helped cool down the summer heat. The morning was the best time of day to hear some of the birds chirp. EVen though the birds' music was lovely, Maka couldn't help but sympathise with her partner. _Poor Soul_, she thought sadly. _He only wanted a date._ Maka turned the corner and saw a construction site in place of the demolished building. The construction hinted at the new structure would be three times as big and tall. She spotted a chubby red head man directing some workers to the left. She walked over to him and asked, "What are they building here?"

"A music hall," The man stated proudly. "You know what was here before?"

Maka nodded as she shoved her hands in her shorts pockets. "A bar and a gift shop. Didn't they both close two years ago?"

"Hey, kid, how'd you know?" The man asked.

"Heh," Maka chuckled. "My weapon and I kind of took the job of demolishing it."

The man turned to her and gasped, "So you two were the ones!" Maka nodded apologetically, but the man let out a roar of laughter. "Oh, it's okay. In fact, only if you were a bit older, I'd be making y'all work on the new structure to make up for all the money we lost!"

Maka shrugged her shoulders and gave a weak smile. Thank Shinigami-sama they were still just fifteen.

"Don't worry 'bout it," he continued. "This theater is going to be one hell of a topic here in Death City. All those people playing their songs at that darn park will get a chance to play on the big stage."

Excitement rushed through Maka's veins. A concert hall! She bowed to the man and apologized once again before running back home. She got to the apartment and burst through the door.

"Soul! Soul! They're making a place for concerts just down the street!" Maka's expression hardened. Of course, the news was exciting, and she was jumping in joy, but her current vision made her knees weaken and her joints loosen. The image in front of her made her eyes widen. She froze.

Soul looked up at her in confusion. He asked, "Something wrong? What's this about a music hall?"

Maka stood speechless in the doorway. After a while, she managed a weak, "Nothing." Her stiff feet carried her to the piano bench, where she sat facing Soul, who was on the couch. There, she had a clear view of his chest, something she knew she had to be calm about. His shirt hung lifeless on the doorknob of his bedroom. She cleared her throat and repeated herself, "They're building a theater."

"I know," Soul mentioned matter-of-factly. He tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch. "I ran into the old man on my way to the store yesterday. He told be all about it."

Maka sighed, "But you didn't tell him we took apart the old building."

"Nope. Only an idiot would tell him," Soul said. He swung his legs onto the couch so that he was lying on it. "What are we doing tonight?"

"Making snowmen," Maka replied sarcastically. She got up and picked up the hand-held mirror from the new coffee table. She announced, "I'm calling Tsubaki."

Soul knocked the mirror out of her hands. He justified his action by stating, "Just you and me. Tsubaki won't be available tonight. Neither will Black Star."

"How do you know this?" Maka asked.

"Black Star called when you were gone. They haven't completed registration yet. Haven't they been in Japan all summer?" Soul reasoned. He leaned over the table and pulled Maka to him by her skinny wrist, sitting her down next to him on the couch. "Besides, we need to relax today. No going anywhere that's not walking distance from home."

Maka nodded. He had won. She really did want to spend some last minute time with Soul before school. And Tsubaki was probably freaking out about registration. She didn't want to interrupt her, not when Tsubaki could be really stressed out right now.

"Alright," Maka agreed. "Where to?"

"I don't know - we'll figure that out later," Soul said.

Maka shrugged and got up to go make lunch. It was almost noon, and she hear feel her stomach growling. Before she disappeared into the kitchen, she turned back to look once again at shirtless Soul, the faded scar dividing his chest in half. She groaned as she knew she had to get used to it. Once inside the kitchen, she began to boil some water and take out some plates. She didn't know exactly what to make - only that she was hungry.

Suddenly, she felt bare arms wrap around her torso. She placed the plates down on the counter and turned around, still caged in his arms. She asked, "Are you trying to rub it in my face the fact you're walking around the house without a shirt on?"

"No," Soul replied. "I just feel like holding you."

Maka moaned.

Soul pressed his forehead against hers. "My meister's been somewhat avoiding me lately. What happened? Why haven't you been your touchy-touchy self lately?"

Dammit, he was right. Maka was so stressed about registration that she had stopped truly acknowledging him. She had begun to figure that if Soul wasn't the contact-type, then she shouldn't be. She said with annoyance, "Why do you choose now to be like this?"

Soul shrugged and confessed, "I guess I just kind of..." he paused, thinking of a way to get his message across without feeling awkward about it. "I kind of miss you..."

"But I'm here," Maka said in confusion.

"Not really," Soul argued, hesitating to press his nose against hers, breathing onto her upper lip. Maka blushed as his lips crept closer to hers. Her pulse sped up. She knew exactly what was coming. "You've been awfully independent lately. I don't like that." She pulled away without letting him kiss her. Soul looked away in hurt. "I'll make lunch. It's cool." He let go of her and gently pushed her out of the kitchen.

Maka groaned. What did he mean by independent? She sighed and went to her room, where she moped around for the next five hours. She rejected her partner's lunch and dove into deep thought.

Soul had changed a bit. Just a month or two ago, he would twitch and squirm whenever she leaned on him when they watched TV or something. Now, he was walking around shirtless as if they were newlyweds. She even recalled catching him after he had weighed the pros and cons of having _sex_ with her. Soul's actions just plain confused her. Maybe if that was the case, he was confused himself. She noticed he had been starting to open up a hell of a lot more, though, so maybe he had started to figure things out. Maka rolled over on her bed. Now _she_ needed to figure things out.

And her deep thought turned into deep sleep.

_Maka... Maka..._

_It's okay Maka._

_Be yourself. Only yourself, and no one more._

Slits of light poured into Maka's vision. The lights weren't too bright, for they were only as dim as candlelight. A smell swirled in the air - a scent of trees. A hand against her back lifted her up in a sitting position. The slits became bigger, and a concerned face looked down upon her.

"Thanks for bringing me here," Soul's voice rang through her ears.

"Huh?" Maka's blurry eyesight sharpened. The environment around her became clear. Wooden flooring, a giant chandelier hanging by a silver chain in the center the ceiling, candles' lights creating a streak of fire in front of thousands of empty seats. And to the left, the most beautiful piano standing on top of the world, giving power to the wonderful world of music. She quivered, "S-Soul... where are we?"

"Shh..." Soul hushed her. "Your performance is being waited upon."

Maka got up and gasped. "Who's my audience?"

Soul helped her stand up, careful not to wrinkle her black dress. He led her around the large instrument and sat her down on the bench.

Maka gazed speechless at the ruby keys splattered with black speckles of blood. Soul's hand crept around her body and his hand gripped hers. He whispered seductively in her ear...

"Me."

The piano let out a roar of sounds as Soul guided Maka's fingers like a puppet. Black waves of insanity crackled in the air. Maka gasped for air as Soul's hands moved hers at light speed, causing her hands to grow weak. If Soul hadn't had a firm grip, she would have not been keeping up. Fear slowly engulfed her as she became lost in the crazy notes of the piece Soul had played to her when they first met. Maka grew dizzy.

"Are you tired?" Soul whispered in her ear, not missing a note. "This is _your_ stage, after all." The empty seats cracked and crumbled to the ground, leaving the floor a mess of collapsed chairs.

Maka's eyes wondered the piano in exhaustion, "Please... stop... Soul..."

But he didn't.

"What are you doing Soul?" Maka sobbed. "What's going ON???"

The piece ended with a loud bang upon a random set of keys. Soul's hands relaxed and fell upon her wrists. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Maka slid her hands away from Soul's and buried them between her knees. She lowered her head and asked, "I wanted this, didn't I?"

Soul nodded and looked around. He said, "You're dreaming Maka, but I'm real. This is what you imagine that new concert hall to look like. And you want me to play that song. For everyone. And you want to play with me."

Maka nodded. He knew.

"But when I finally let you play... you let the fear get the best of you and you froze," Soul explained. He sat on the bench next to her. "You got what a lot of people call 'stage fright', yet your only audience was me."

Maka looked at him with confusion. He looked into her eyes. "Kind of like how we've been acting as boyfriend and girlfriend. You wanted me to show you lots of affection, though I felt scared to let you have it. I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to make you do things you didn't want to do or experience. And part of that was because I'm really wasn't a touchy guy. It was uncool."

Maka nodded as he continued, "But when I finally let you have to chance to kiss me... you freeze. I think... I think the problem here is that you fear me. You fear I'm going to hurt you."

Maka shook her head violently at the statement and buried her head in Soul's shirt. "That's not it at all! I'm afraid to lose you! I'm afraid I can't keep up with you. You're a fucking idiot if you think I'm scared of _you_, Soul - I'm scared of MYSELF!" The scenery around them shifted from the insanity-filled theater, to a endless field of dead grass under a grey sky. They sat on the grass, Maka weeping in his arms.

"Ug... not cool, Maka," Soul stated calmly, hugging her head to his chest. It all made sense. He remembered when she was afriad their love had ruined their partnership, and how she was overjoyed it only strengthened it. She was afraid it was _her_ fault. She was afraid of _herself_. "Maka, you've done nothing wrong."

"Everything."

"Nothing."

Maka looked up at him and managed a smile. Soul touched her cheek and said, "So if I try to kiss you now, you won't try to resist, right?"

Maka shook her head. He leaned forward, careful not to hurt her, and pressed his lips against hers. At that moment, Maka awoke, jolting up from her bed. Her room proved empty. No Soul.

She got up, noticing she was in her pajamas, and came out from her room. She found Soul sitting at the dining room table, staring into space. A glass of milk sat in front of him. She sat down at the table, pulling a chair to sit right next to Soul.

He said, "I hope that's how the theater will look like. You know, except that weird looking piano."

"So it was real," Maka said.

"Yep," Soul nodded.

Maka smiled and leaned onto his shoulder. She told him, "I love you."

"I love you, too."


	5. Monster in Moscow 1

**I'm continuing this** and putting my Fairy Tail fic on hold. I'm probably gonna discontinue it though, so I apologize to fans of it. -sweatdrop-

**Do Re Mi is now entering a Part II,** which is focusing on a new aspect of SxM and possibly introducing a new pairing. I have never written any other characters besides Soul and Maka, so I'm going to try my best and make them in character.

**I have also decided** to add in Kidd's POV. As I mentioned in the previous chapters, I wanted to do a fiction about Shinigami's past, but I wrote the first five chapters (20,000 words!) and it got... destroyed... so I'm going to add in bits of pieces of what it would've looked like. Basically, they'll be in flashbacks and such, and ultimately lead up to something BIG.

**Now,** I've hinted that this story is now officially a long term project. So way more is on its way.

**Anyways, **here's chapter five (I think). Enjoy.

**Ki**

When everyone gathered at Shibusen that day, not one soul failed to welcome everyone else back. When the godly meister, ninja weapon, twin guns and shinigami leaned against the walls of the main hallway, they didn't failed to notice the strong soul connection coming from outside the door. But they ignored it, shrugging it off and establishing it as a nuisance. Kidd sighed, exhausted from his over-tiring summer break, when he discovered things he wished he hadn't. The weight on his shoulder became unbearable as he slid against the wall, down to the floor.

_You have your mother's eyes._

"Kidd!" winced the smaller gun, latching onto his arm, trying to pull him back up. It was no use.

BlackStar glanced curiously at the depressed boy. He asked, "What's wrong?"

Liz was quick to give him the stink eye. Unfortunately, not even she knew what had happened over summer. She remembered a few days after the last day of school, the three of them were just hanging out in the living room. Patty sat happily at the table seriously drawing and Liz had her headphones wrapped securely around her head, listening to a new favorite artist and redoing her nails. She couldn't exactly remember which book Kidd was reading as he leaned in the stone arch around the flameless fireplace, his golden eyes glued to the black journal he'd received from Shinigami the other day. Somehow, Kidd was stuck in the world of that thick journal - he couldn't get out. Whenever one attempted to exchange words with him, he'd simply ingore them, blocking out all the world. He went a month without eating or sleeping (because Shinigamis are special like that), and never went outside. Something about that damn book.

And now, Kidd was a ruined mess.

Liz slid down to the tiled floor with him, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him to lean against her soft chest. Patty bent down, giving them both a hug.

BlackStar just blinked. What the fuck was wrong with Kidd? Of course, he was going to challenge Kidd to a duel later, but seems how his condition was rather... unappealing... he decided to hold back on that urge.

Tsubaki, who was holding almost ten different textbooks, was the first to see the figures coming slowly through the main double doors. The lighting of the hallway hit the scruffy white hair and the sandy blond as they revealed themselves to the Shibusen student scattered around. The strong connection of their souls seemed to slightly change the atmosphere. People stopped their tasks to look their way, noticing the two connected by a simple joining in the hands. Maka blushed, making eye contact with Tsubaki, who unknowingly dropped her books.

"Maka..." Tsubaki voiced.

The whole group, save Kidd, glanced at the new couple, who proudly held each others hands.

"Woah..." BlackStar stared at them. "When did _this_ happen?"

"A year ago, asshole," Soul gave him a sarcastic reply..

Not too long after, Maka cheerfully corrected him, "Two months ago."

Tsubaki grinned, "Wow. That took forever!"

The pair blushed simultaneously, but frowned when they saw the fucked-up looking Kidd, hanging like a doll on Liz's back, who was now standing up. Liz said, "Hey, this is great, but Patty and I are taking Kidd to the infirmary. He's not feeling too good and I don't want to risk him throwing up in class or something." Patty let out a small giggle and followed her sister down the hall.

Tsubaki shook her head and said, "Everyone's changed this year."

"Yeah," BlackStar seconded the statement.

An awkward silence filled the atmosphere around the four. Maka sneezed, Tsubaki blessed her and picked up her books, and the four began their way to homeroom. On the way, Soul elbowed Maka to remind her of something they'd discussed at the dinner table the previous night, after the whole piano scene. Maka said, "Oh yeah. Soul and I thought I'd be cool to hang out this Saturday, you know, to catch up on everything."

Tsubaki shook her head. She said, "Actually, BlackStar and I agreed to spend this next year doing extracurricular missions, since we're far behind on collecting souls. We just chose the mission in Sydney - we're leaving tomorrow after school."

"Oh."

"And I don't think Kidd and his gang are going to be up to it." Tsubaki added. "I don't even think Kidd is going to come to school again for a while."

Maka gazed down at her shoes, her heart sinking quickly into her stomach. Everyone really had changed. She pulled the strap of her bag further inwards to her neck, not letting it slide off her shoulder. Obviously, BlackStar and Tsubaki had better things to do, and Kidd, Liz, and Patty were going through tremendous stress. Maka didn't feel the need to ask again or beg, so she quickly dismissed the topic.

Tsubaki opened the door for them, but Soul shook his head and pulled Maka to the side. Maka watched BlackStar and Tsubaki disappear behind the door.

"Just wanna make sure you're okay," Soul stated as he tangled his fingers though Maka's hair.

Maka hesitantly nodded, feeling immature. Of course, she shouldn't have been asking people to hang out - that was something they did as thirteen year olds. But now it'd been three years later, and everyone is following their own path after the school year came to a close. Her stomach began to twist. She was a fool.

Soul pulled her to his chest and rested his chin on her shoulder. He peered out at the almost barren hall. At those people. Now staring. But he didn't care. He didn't damn a fucking damn what they thought. He wanted them all to know Maka was off limits - that she was his. He wanted to make it distinctively clear. But those were just side thoughts. Right now, Maka needed him, and he'd be holding onto her even if they were all alone. Because he was cool like that. He dared to give her a light peck on the skin below his lips, receiving a slight, pleasurable moan from his meister.

_His_ meister.

Before they knew it, homeroom ended. The couple stepped out of the classroom feeling bad about not exchanging any more words with BlackStar and Tsubaki. Still holding hands, they kept a slow walking pace and they headed towards the mission board.

Maka's eyes darted around the sheets of paper, searching for a mission for their now vacant Saturday that would give them their ninty-sixth soul since the Blair incident. They were dangerously close to the witch soul - just five more.

Maka watched a smile creep up on Soul's lips as he chuckled, staring at a blue square with white letters on it. She raised a brow and snatched the sheet of paper. Moscow - a monster is terrorizing Red Square. Maka shrugged. Seemed easy. The last mission they took before summer was one near there, so they were familiar with the area. Not bad. But why was Soul laughing?

Soul seemed to read her mind. "Just reminded me of our last mission."

"What's so funny about our last mission?" Maka asked, curious.

Soul shook his head, "I shouldn't even be laughing. That's not cool - sorry."

"Whaaaaat? Tell me!" Maka whined.

"Fine, but you have to promise not to Maka Chop me."

"Deal." She wanted to know.

"..."

"..."

"It was the first time I saw the red polka dotted pair."

Maka broke her promise.

Meanwhile, the classroom had gone empty, but BlackStar and Tsubaki remained seated. An eerie silence feel over the two and they exchanged glances. The first to make noise was BlackStar, who gave out a light, "So..." but Tsubaki didn't answer to it. She folded her arms and revisited earlier that morning in her mind, remembering Kidd's collapse and Maka's new relationship. Too bad she had to tell Maka she couldn't do anything this weekend. _Too bad we have to go to Sydney._

"I'm sorry," BlackStar apologized. "It's just... I really want to get it done this year."

Tsubaki giggled, "It's nothing to be sorry about. I want to, too. That's why we have to work really hard this year, okay?"

BlackStar grinned and nodded, giving Tsubaki a thumbs up. Tsubaki chuckled. This was the man who was going to surpass God. Dammit, she was lucky to have such a determined meister for a partner.

But when it came to Kidd, all isn't well.

Liz and Patty sat in the dusty, grey chairs next to Kidd's bed, drowning in sleep. Kidd probably felt a lot more comfortable sleeping in his symmetrical bedroom than the nurse's beds at school. Although Kidd hadn't yet communicated his preference, they assumed so. But it was different. Very different.

Kidd didn't give a damn. All the years he'd been worrying about symmetry... bullshit.

_Can you see yet? Can you see me with those golden eyes of yours? Your mother adores your black hair, Kidd, even if it isn't as colorful as she wanted it to be._

_I took her, my future child. I took her. I stole her from my own student._

_Look where I am now. Look where he is now._

Kidd felt his heart shatter. His own father... why?

_But I love her._

And so did Kidd.

Soul's motorbike was parked in the back, behind the southern tower. Maka climbed on, clutching the sides of his shirt for dear life, as she always did. They were going to the most familiar place known to them - the most welcoming... home. As as the sun, high in the sky, laughed at the afternoon clouds, Soul rode Maka to their apartment, where they would go inside to find no Blair. The cat had moved to England for a while to study to be a nurse, since she was too old for even the ol' college in Death City.

When Soul and Maka sat on the couch at the same time, they laughed. Soul gave Maka a little tickle, and she reacted by getting up and running into his room. She closed the door behind her, then went to hide under the covers of his unmade, messy bed. She coughed and wormed her way to the end of the bed, still under the thick covers, to lift them up and peek out at the door. In came Soul, who jumped onto his bed and tackled Maka, who was, in fact, still under the covers. Then, when Maka felt a sudden jolt of emotions, she settled down and wondered. She wondered what cause the sudden change of attitude of BlackStar. She wondered how Tsubaki was feeling about being behind everyone else in terms of soul collecting. She wondered how Kidd could be such a mess... what caused it? She wondered why Patty didn't giggle as often as she used to and why Liz never smiled that day. She wondered how Soul and her had changed over summer.

Soul heard the sigh that escaped Maka's lips. He gently lifted the covers from her face and asked, "What's wrong?"

She spoke her mind, "Have we changed?"

Soul froze in his place, with his hands on either side of Maka's arms and his knees on either side of her waist. He recollected memories from over summer. He remembered teaching her the piano, and going to the oark almost everyday to find more music. He remembered his lame-ass attempt at writing. He remembered Dark Hunter, and how powerful they'd become, and the other night when they gazed at Maka's grand image of the theatre. Her smiles were forever printed in these memories. He had never seen his Maka smile so much in his life.

"Yeah," Soul answered, looking into her emerald eyes. He smiled. "We've changed." He pushed himself off the bed and headed to the kitchen. "I'm going to go make dinner. Want anything in particular?"

Maka climbed out of the bed herself, shaking her head. She saw his white hair disappear. Even though he answered her question correctly, she was somehow unsatisfied with that answer. Yes, they have changed, but how?

Only time would tell.

And in the meanwhile, all Maka could do was eat in silence next to Soul. The Soul who had changed her over summer. Because of Soul, she was more carefree. And because of Soul, she knew she wasn't alone. Even when their gorup of friends went their seperate ways, it would be Soul who'd be walking down her path with her. Because he was her weapon. He was her life.

She did the dishes without question as Soul escape to his room to relax. They didn't have homework that night, since it was the first day and most teachers discussed rules and policies. And since Shibusen had block schedule, tomorrow would be the same.

And tomorrow was the Partner Resonance III class. Even though they had nailed Dark Hunter, she still felt more comfortable with taking Partner Resonance III than the class after it, Multi Weapon I (which, also, only Death Scythes and their partners took _after_ Enrollment College). She absolutely refused to take that class after Soul and her and just gotten together. She didn't want to learn how to adjust her resonance to every weapon yet. She only wanted Soul. He wasn't even a Death Scythe, yet, and they were the only exception in the PR III class. There hasn't been anyone in the class for a year or two now, since the new generation hasn't spouted any DeathScythes yet. They'd be the only ones. And they'd be taught by Shinigami, himself.

Oh boy.


	6. Monster in Moscow 2

**You can tell I'm putting off studying until the last minute when** I update just a few days after my previous update. Yes, this is chapter six of Do Re Mi. I'm really, really surprised with myself at this, for I've never written so much for one story. I guess it just because I actually know where I'm going with this, and it's more like a character study rather than a story. Seriously, this current plot with the Monster in Moscow is only going to be one more chapter after this. After that, I'm going to revisit Kidd and Shinigami, then focus more on Soul and Maka, with a bit of BlackStar and Tsubaki sprinkled in.

**That's really it.** There's nothing else to say, besides here's one of my longer chapters. Hope you enjoy it.

**NO WAIT scratch that.** I'm am _very_ embarrassed with the ending of this chapter. This was the hardest chapter I ever had to write, so no flaming for this chapter, please, as it'll discourage me from continuing to write this. But giving me lots and lots of nice reviews will have the opposite effect.

**Lots of love,  
Ki**

In the morning, Maka found that she didn't have anything to wear. Everything sat wet, spinning in the dryer. She decided to sit down for a few minutes, since she was ahead of schedule, and stare at her plaid skirt dancing through the little circle window. After getting annoyed, Maka gave the old dryer a kick of anger. _Why?_ She asked herself. _Just... why? Why today?_ She needed something nice to wear to school that day - her first day of Partner Resonance III. Especially since she was the only student besides Soul in the class.

She wanted badly to wear that plaid skirt with that green tie today. It was the outfit she wore everyday to school when she was thirteen... kind of like a uniform. She wanted to experience her thirteenth year of life over again, fighting Medusa and Asura, hanging out with her friends, and regularly Maka Chopping her papa and other boys who pissed her off. She couldn't do any of that again, even if she wanted to. Especially that last one. And Maka continued to wait for her clothes to dry.

The clock ticked. And tocked. And ticked again. Until finally, Maka had enough, Maka Chopped the dryer (and broke it in the process, resulting in her screaming "AW FUCK!"), and retreated to Soul's room.

Opening the heavy door, Maka demanded, "Soul, we have to replace the dryer." She spotted Soul, who was shirtless, searching for a T-Shirt to wear.

Soul looked up towards her. "Yeah, I heard. Not cool Maka. May I list all the things you've broken in the last two mon-" Soul finally got a good look at her in her bra and pajama bottoms, her bare stomach exposed to him. He gulped, then dismissed his unusual, rare sexual thoughts. He continued with a now dry voice, "You... you wear bras? Do you even need one?"

Maka pouted and gave him the don't-mess-with-me-in-the-morning-look. Soul took notice and smirked, giving her back a if-you-don't-put-on-a-shirt-soon,-I'm-going-to-tackle-you-to-the-bed-and-kiss-you-until-you're-breathless look.

Maka rolled her eyes and turned away, out of the room, closing the door behind her. Even though she knew Soul would never do that, she didn't want to take the chance, especially when she had slept last night with only a bra and pants, due to the heat, and had forgotten to slip into her shirt.

Soul stared at the closed door which was blocking his view of Maka's chest and stomach. In a slight, disturbing disappointment, he returned to his task of finding a shirt for the day, since all his shirts were wet, too. He knew that he had Partner Resonance III today with Maka and Shinigami. Maka had stressed out all night last night about it, saying over and over again how he couldn't be rude, or slobby, or a jerk, and to limit public affection to her that day. His only question was... what about private affection? Which, he never got the chance to ask, due to Maka's mind reading skills, which proved to be highly skilled during that extremely short make-out session that followed. His question was answered. But afterward, she made it clear that she didn't want _any_ public affection at _all_ the next day.

He smirked, letting the surprisingly hot morning air feel his sharp teeth. Black shirts... blue shirts... red shirts... white shirts... all his favorites were in the dryers. But, a speck of orange hung from a shelf. He snatched it down, recognizing it as his old orange shirt from when he was thirteen years old. It was big for him then, it being a hand-me-down from Wes. He shrugged and slipped it on, along with a black sweaters and jeans.

Then, out of nowhere, something else caught his eye. Hanging on a rack in his closet was another article of clothing he wore in his early thirteenth year - his old black and yellow jacket with his headband hanging from one of the pockets. His eyes widened. He hadn't seen that thing around in ages. Soul wanted to put it on, but it'd surely be too small for him. It was like... Maka's size or something, since she hadn't really grown too much.

Maka.

Soul quickly brushed off the dust and searched for the shirt he always had worn underneath. Finding it, he closed his closest door and sped out to the living room. "Maka?"

"Here, idiot," Maka's voice called from the kitchen.

With a big, cheesy grin, Soul pranced to the kitchen, hiding the clothing behind his back. He highly doubted Maka would give into the suggestion, since she wanted to look all goody-goody for Shinigami. Soul whipped the clothes around him and held them out towards Maka in pride.

Soul noticed that Maka's facial features tensed instantly, but something clicked after a few seconds. The corners of Maka's mouth reached her ears as she grabbed the jacket from his hand. She exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! It's your old jacket! Can I wear it? Please?"

That was very unexpected. Soul took the "cool" stance of this situation and asked rather curiously, "Why would you want to?"

"Because..." Maka reasoned, "It brings back memories."

"You'd wear this piece of junk on your first day to PR?" Soul asked.

"Why not?" Maka pouted. "And it's sooo not junk. I'm really glad you kept it." She slid it on, taking out her pigtails and bringing the headband up, around her straight blond hair. "There. Do I look like you?"

Soul gave a small chuckle and gave her the answer she wanted, "Of course. You look very cool."

Later, Maka would find a pair of gray sweatpants her papa gave her in her closet, and later, the couple would find out that breakfast didn't cook right and have to skip it in order to make it to school on time. The cold wind whipping past them while riding that motorbike was gold to them on that dreadfully hot day. With no cloud in sight, the happy sun gave out his maniacal laughter and lit even the places where shadows were usually keeping them as cold as ice. Soul parked the bike in a different area this time and helped Maka off before entering the symmetrical school.

Tsubaki was proven to be correct. There were no signs of Kidd, Liz or Patty anywhere. BlackStar gave his morning godly speech like always, except it wasn't as loud as it used to be. Tsubaki had gotten to the library to get some last minute research done about Sydney. She fumbled through some books, but finally decided enough was enough. She cleaned up and joined her partner in the hallway.

BlackStar gave his weapon a huge, goofy grin before rambling on about the mission and a second one he had his eyes on that was near where they were going today. Tsubaki nodded in agreement, and at the same time in pride for how strong and determined he had become.

Light entered Kidd's eyes for the first time in thirteen hours. The covers of his symmetrical bed lay softly on his chest, moving up and down with his breathing. He gripped the sheets below him, suddenly realizing and remembering everything.

_Everything had to have every color of the rainbow on it. She'd get frustrated if it wasn't perfect._

_When she first came... she didn't know where she was. She didn't know who she was talking to. I didn't know who I was talking to._

Kidd's eyes watered in rememberance.

_She asked, "Why such a sad looking fellow? What kind of piece of trash are you?" She gave a good look at my black clothing and her face scrunched up in disgust._

_I told her, "Death is a sad thing."_

Suddenly, Kidd became disgusted with himself. Not only was he unsymmetrical, which he didn't give a damn about anymore, but now he wasn't colorful. Color mattered to his mother. And yet, his mother still loved him.

_"It shows the world who you are," she would remind me, "Color is a fasicating image. We must enjoy it while we can."_

_And that first time our lips met... I could see all the colors of the rainbow in those round eyes of hers._

Kidd took a deep breath. He sat up in his bed and stretched out his arms before getting up to get a glass of water. He was feeling better, as he tried not to think about... the other stuff in the book.

_It was ridiculous... she made me this cute skull mask, suprisingly completely white. I was shocked, but I knew that she knew that it was improper for older shinigamis to wear anything but black and white, and she wanted me to have this mask to wear around my future Kidd._

_She didn't want you to think I was scary._

_She loved you even before we loved each other._

At Shibusen, Maka and Soul, trying to resist the temptation of joining their hands together, entered through the guillotines without words. When they finally arrived to the center of the spacious room, it was empty. They were early. They sat together, their legs tired, under the last guillotine, afraid of entering the actual classroom area without adult supervision. "You look cute today," Soul said, admiring Maka's choice of apparel. She blushed and turned away, not responding to the 'public affection'.

Soul watched Maka from the corner of his eye, staring at awe at her. She really did look cute that day, whether she'd like to admit it or not. Bored, he blew out a quick stream of air through his lips, resulting in a sort of whistle-like sound. This surprised him, since he hadn't whistled in ages and had a feeling he was out of practice. He blew again, and this time, the whistle was louder. He blinked. Maka noticed and blinked. Soul looked back at Maka who seemed to be interested in this random action. Soul chuckled before using his reacquired whistle to sound out three different pitches.

"Do... re... mi," Maka identified them quickly. She laughed. He laughed. She laughed louder.

"Hey, students!"

The couple glanced up towards the voice, which came from the center of the room. First thing that caught their eye was Shinigami's giant while-gloved hand waving to them from the distance. Soul achieved a comical sweatdrop and asked, "How the hell did you get here?"

Maka jabbed him with her elbow, frustrated with his sudden outburst. Shinigami tilted his head and watched as the two burst into an argument. In front of him. He really didn't have to be doing this. At first, he thought about postponing their first meeting, since his son wasn't doing to well. _I shouldn't have let him see the book so early._ Those words ran through his head again and again. But instead of postponing, he decided to leave Kidd with his weapons and come teach the potential greatest weapon-meister pair the world may ever know. Of course, they were still far from that title, but they were closer than anyone else.

And Shinigami couldn't help but notice their soul wavelengths reaching out to each other. A swirl of pink and blue dazzled him. Wisps of each others soul energy twisted together, forming a disconnected spiral-like image. It was a sight he hadn't seen since Spirit and Kami. Shinigami suddenly felt a tear from inside of him... something he knew would continue for eternity. And suddenly, the great Shinigami felt sick to his stomach.

"Shinigami-sama?" Maka had taken time off their argument to acknowledge his presence. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine Maka-chan," he forgave her, holding up a hand in emphasis, "But I may cut today's class short. I'm not feeling to well."

Maka's hands shook. Something fishy was going on between Kidd and Shinigami. She recalled yesterday again when Kidd collapsed, and his absence today. She knew right away - something between Shinigami and him. Did something happen to Shinigami? Was that that Kidd was upset? Kidd did always address his father as 'honorable', and looked up to him. Of course he'd be upset about his father. Although she definitely couldn't relate... especially now... she knew Kidd and his father had a special connection here. As much as she wanted so badly to know, she knew it was rude to butt in. But it wasn't fair that Shinigami had to teach now. It just wasn't fair.

So her words surprised Soul, "Shinigami-sama, I think it would be best if you took the day off and talked to Kidd."

But she had no idea.

Shinigami decided to take her advice, dismissing both Soul and Maka, but advising them to stay on campus for their next class. He gave out a loud sigh once both were gone, and seated himself in front of his mirror. He and Kidd needed a father-son chit chat, and he was going to do it the right way. As he dialed his mansion's mirror number, the eyes under his mask began to soften. _Takara..._ He clenched his fists. She wasn't someone he thought about too often, since his mind was preoccupied with Shibusen and the kishins, but the one thing he couldn't avoid was seeing her in his son. And since Kidd now knew about her, it'd be harder to face him.

So he did one final thing before Kidd answered the mirror call.

When Shinigami showed up on his bathroom mirror, Kidd gasped for the unneeded air. He dropped the water he now held in his hands, it spilling onto his shoes. "Honorable F-F-Father...?"

An unfamiliar pale man stared at him with dark sapphire eyes. His spiky jet black hair made the seemingly thirty year old man look like the god he was. With his goofy mask in one hand, and his gloves in the other, he spoke with a voice that Kidd had never heard before.

"I'm coming home for awhile."

In the evening, Soul and Maka retreated to home, where they shared a light conversation about dinner, then began to pack up for the next day. Maka couldn't stop thinking about Shinigami and Kidd. She kept telling herself it wasn't her business, but with it concerning Shinigami, she became worried. She reminded herself that it was family problems, and it wasn't necessary to worry. But, when she realized that it could be a family problem, the question of Kidd's parentage came up.

Who was his mother?

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Maka looked up to find her weapon's ruby eyes starring back down at her. As if he could read her mind, he assured her, "Don't worry about it. I don't like seeing you stress out about nothing. It isn't cool." He sat on her bed, grabbing her hand and pulling her down with him. They laid upon some of Maka's folded clothes and jackets as Soul took her second hand.

"I should be packing."

"No. I command you to relax here until I say so."

Maka asked, "And that'll be..."

"When you stop thinking about Kidd."

Maka chuckled as Soul brought himself into a position so that he was hovering over her. She courageously, daringly asked, "What if I've taken interest in him?"

"Then I'll tell everyone about those polka dotted panties," Soul explained his tactic for keeping himself.

Maka cocked an eyebrow at his strategy. She countered it by saying, "That pair isn't the most embarrassing one I own. You should know that."

"Of course," Soul admitted, "You caught me."

She chuckled again, sliding her arms around Soul's neck. She sighed and asked, "So is there a way for me to be set free...? I really really need to finish packing up."

Soul let out a "heh" and pointed out, "So you don't have a hardcover on you?"

"Eh..." Maka said. "Yes, but I've Maka Chopped enough things for one day. And I'd much rather hear what the cost is for getting released from your trap."

"I've already announced that... stop thinking about Kidd," Soul repeated himself.

Maka thought about this for a while. How she could continue to play this little game of his without ruining it or giving up? Maybe if she asked for one more thing in return - something she hadn't gotten in a while. She smirked and offered, "Okay, I'll stop my thoughts of Kidd under two conditions." Soul leaned in to hear them better. She continued, "One, of course, is you release me. And the other one... kiss me."

"Aw, dammit Maka. Not cool." Soul said.

Maka whined, "But I haven't gotten one in _ages_!"

Soul asked, "Since when was twenty-four hours considered to be ages ago?"

Maka blushed, remembering the other night. Even though the other night was extremely short and awkward, it was pretty damn hot, and hot enough for her to request that he'd not show public affection for that day, since she didn't want to accidentally be tempted into doing something embarrassing in front of everyone. She finally said, "Since now. And besides... I thought you changed. Don't you like kissing me, now?" She remembered the time Soul had written evidence of his perverted thoughts right on his arms.

Giving in, Soul leaned down even more, pressing his nose and forehead against Maka's face. He smirked, letting a bit of drool escape his mouth. He responded by saying, "And so much more. You have... no. Fucking. Clue." Not being able to hold it in for much longer, Soul smashed his lips against Maka's mouth, feeling the softness of her lips as they grinded against his. He tilted his head to the side, giving him more room for his tongue to dive deeper down into areas only known by her and himself. His taste buds picked up the delicious taste of their desert that night.

Maka's tongue lost in their fight for dominance. She wove her hands through Soul's hair and relaxed, letting him know he had control. At this point, she couldn't even set her mind straight enough to think about Kidd's situation, and instead, got caught up in this fascinating moment, when she could hear her weapon playing piano for her in his soul.

And after this craziness, which went on for another fifteen minutes, Maka would pack up both her and Soul. She would give Soul a lecture about getting ready himself, even going as far as to threaten not to kiss him ever again. Soul would sigh and admit Maka was right. Then, they'd leave in the morning to Russia after good night's sleep in each other's arms.


	7. Monster in Moscow 3

**Heh... heh...** sorry for the delayed update. I had so much to do. And seriously, this chapter was hard to write, 'cause I'm not so great with fight scenes. Sorry. So they aren't as epic as they should be.

**On February 9th,** I turned **16**. So... yeah. ;)

**For 100 reviews** I plan to draw you guys a picture. Wheee! Anyways, I need to know what you guy want to see. Which scene from Do Re Mi you'd like a still image of. It's completely up to you, 'cause it's your guys' present. You can tell me through a review, and if there's an idea being repeated more than once, or if an idea sounds like people would like it, then I'll do it!

BUT

You guys won't get it until I get 100 reviews. :)

**This is the longest chapter of Do Re Mi** so far, so I hope you like it. It was a pain in the ass to write, though.

**Enjoy!  
Ki**

She loved when she had an excuse to cuddle him. His arms created a ring of heat around her small body as minuscule snowflakes greeted the hoods of their jackets. Maka's body melted into her weapon's jacket as she clung to his side, his red scarf flapping in the wind behind her. The frosty air bit at their skin, only allowing so much time to actually fight the monster. They'd have to think up of a way to defeat it without much fighting, since it was hard to be flexible with their heavy jackets. And just as the glowing sun rose, the pair stepped into Red Square, admiring once again the beautiful, colorful buildings around them. They'd have to be careful to not damage anything. They were nearly alone.

Soul squeezed Maka tighter, saying, "Looks like everyone's at home."

"You'd expect," Maka reasoned. "Must be frightened."

Soul chuckled and said, "No shit, Captain Obvious." He led Maka down a street, glancing at all the closed stores. Only three or four brave ones roamed around the square, either suicidal or unknowing of the incidents. He rubbed his lips together. "Damn, it's chilly."

"No shit, Captain Obvious," Maka repeated. She wiggled away from Soul's arm to inspect a nearby 'Closed' sign hanging from a tree. _I wonder what this is doing here._ She unhooked the sigh and dusted off the snowflakes that rusted the top. She had heard of the power of this Kishin soul they'd come to take, described as monstrous and destructive. But with one look around, nothing in particular was damaged. But then again, they were only standing in the outskirts. They'd have to look further. She tossed the sign into the snow and said, "Let's go."

Soul nodded and took her in his arms once again, matching his steps with hers. Their ninety-sixth soul was just around the corner. He licked his lips, a sudden ache of an appetite exploding from his stomach. Soul was ready. He'd been ready for three years. After this soul, it'd be their ninety-seventh, then their ninety-eighth, then their ninety-ninth... it was an astonishing thought. And this time, they'd make sure that their witch opponent wasn't a sexy feline.

Once the partners reached St. Basil's Cathedral, a wavelength fell upon Maka's skin. The weight of the frosty air sank to her bones. With a hoarse voice, she said as she nodded, "It's around here." She felt the fingers of her lover dig into her shoulder. Gently. Letting her know that her weapon is here, and that he'll make sure everything is okay. Even upon finding the general area of this creature, their feet were firmly planted in the ground, half-expecting the monster to come to them. Maka didn't dare cough, although her throat felt frozen, in fear that it would shatter. But, she managed to ask, "Ninety-sixth?"

Soul nodded and repeated her words, "Ninety-sixth."

"Are we ready for this?" Maka asked another breathy question. She lifted her arm so she could catch the hand that was resting upon her shoulder. This was _Soul's_ hand. The very hand of someone whom she never wanted to leave.

And unsurprisingly, Soul played cool and half-joked, "Of course. Are you having second thoughts? You wanna turn around?"

"No," Maka assured him. She looked up to his face as she unraveled herself from his arms, her hand still holding his. Her face lit up, the corners of a smile creeping to her ears. "I'm just getting excited."

Soul let out a chuckle and patted her soft, sandy blonde hair. He nodded again and said, "I am too," before evaporating into a glowing mist, soon taking the form of a scythe. Maka's grip on him tightened as she twirled him about her small frame, warming up her arms for combat. She then ran into the evening fog.

_Ninety-five_. That was a measurement of the amount of souls they had obtained in the past three years. Ninety-five plus the another ninety-nine souls from before added up to be one hundred ninety-four souls. In total. That she had taken with Soul. As her partner. But now, they were going to take their first soul as more than that. As lovers. And so she reminded herself, that no matter if they succeeded gloriously, or failed miserably, Soul would still be at her side. She wouldn't exchange his presence for anything else in the world. And as she ran through this heavy fog that covered the ground of their battlefield, she remembered that first night on the piano, and that first 'I love you', and that first kiss. She remembered it all.

She grew closer to a noise. A noise familiar, yet strange and obscure. High-pitched screeches coming from a distance. Coming closer and closer. Maka recognized the sound, a sound often played at the park concerts. It came from a beautiful, curvy wooden box with a handle on it. Another instrument she wanted to learn to play.

"A violin," Soul reminded her. His soul gazed out from his blade. "It's coming from Lenin's Mausoleum!"

Maka sped up her pace. "Right."

Upon seeing the marble red and the large wall behind it, she stopped. The violin had indeed, gotten louder. As if she was standing right next to it. All she had to do... was look... to her right... there... to her right... a small girl clad in white with flowing blonde hair, her bangs trimmed along her eyebrows. Her small hands didn't stop, as if she never noticed Maka. But her pale gray eyes did look... to her left... where stood a strange girl in a pink jacket and black pants and boots. And why was she holding a scythe? But none of that mattered. The music mattered. Only the music.

Maka watched the girl closely as she rubbed the horsehair along the strings of the violin. What a wonderful tune to play in the fog. In the snow. In the cold. And that was when the song ended. The girl retired her bow to her side and turned to Maka and Soul. She spoke in a very mannered, yet high-pitched tone, "Did you like it, Miss?"

"A lot," Maka replied sweetly, "Beautiful song."

"Well, thank you very much," The girl said, looking back at the tomb. "I come here every weekend, just to play a song for the honorable Mr. Lenin." Maka smiled and nodded as she continued, "Shall I play another song for you?"

Soul watched as the innocent little girl picked up her strings again, playing a fine tune that made the cold, bitter climate feel like a mystical wonderland. He peered down at the snow from his blade, watching the flakes land there.

Suddenly, a fierce, howling laugh split the air! Maka swung Soul in front of the girl and claws clashed against his metal. The deformed body of the kishin soul growled and jumped, hurling itself at Maka. Maka shouted to the girl, "Run! Now!"

As the girl retreated, Maka observed this monster, which looked more like a zombie dog, less than a human. Its rough black eyes sent sparks at her, and its sharp canines clenched its jaw. The beast trudged to the side, giving itself a running start to leap onto the meister. She dodged, flying backwards and digging Soul's blade into the snow, twirling on it to kick her legs at the creature. She hit, causing the monster to stagger back, but it gave a good shake of it fur to signal the attack didn't affect it at all. It growled once again and charged at Maka, who jumped over and took a swing at its neck. Missed by a hair.

The dog-like kishin soul rolled in the snow to the side, getting up and prancing along Maka's right, but then side stepping to her left. As it pranced around Maka, Soul said, "Shit, it's fast."

"I know!" Maka replied, concentrating on its movements. The beast charged at her once again, swinging its claws several times. Maka countered them, then dived down under it to shoot Soul upwards, cutting some fur off its belly. She then roundhouse kicked its side, bringing her up on top of it. The meister took a few of her steps on it, then attempted to pierce its side with Soul. But, the monster shook her off. She didn't fall, instead landing gallantly on her feet.

"Damn, it's getting cold," Maka said, roughly.

"I know," Soul acknowledged. "Let's just get this over with."

Maka nodded, running after the monster. She made an uppercut onto its back, then whacked its head with the end of the cold metal staff. The potential kishin soul quickly recovered, then hovered over Maka for a split second. Before she could blink, it body slammed her, burying her into the snow.

The tingly feeling crept along her skin. Her arms couldn't budge and her feet were stuck. The snow filled the cavern of her mouth, freezing her teeth and tongue. A sudden sharp pain jolted in her stomach. She screamed, muffled by the whiteness. _Soul_... her thought did not seem to register her fatal situation, but rather if her dear scythe was still in one piece. She tightened her fist. Her right fist. Then her left. There was supposed to be a difference. The left was supposed to be empty, and it was. But the right wasn't. There should have been something there...

Her fingers touched nothing but snow. The palm of her hand was missing that cold metal. Air and watery ice replaced it. Maka breathed in the snow in a harsh gasp that left her suffocating. Nothing was there. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing was there. Her fingers search the depths of the sea of snow. Drowning. She was drowning. Where? Where was he? Where was her scythe? Where was her protector? Where was Soul?

"Maka?"... "Maka!"... "MAKA!"

She heard him. She felt him. His arm wrapping around hers. Then she saw him. She saw the air and the tomb and the big red wall. Bits of snow clung to her face and hands. Her waist was engulfed in a blanket of coldness. And she saw red snow. Red snow? Then, her eyelids shut. They would stay shut for a while.

"Let's get the rest of you out," Soul suggested as he hugged her body, pulling her slowly out of the snow, careful not to hurt her. Once he got her out, he hoisted her up onto his back, securing her tightly around his own body. He let out a hesitant sigh as his ruby eyes scouted the area.

It was gone.

His thumbs rubbed circles onto her legs to calm her down, even though he knew she was unconscious. A shivering Maka hung limply on his back, some of her blood soaking into his jacket. _Fuck. This is my fault. Damn this. My fault. My fault._ He mentally kicked himself, his knees shaking under him. He tried to stand up straight, but the weight of Maka, and the weight of her injury kept his legs shivering. The icy breeze burnt his nose as he unwrapped his scarf. Soul brought Maka down from his back to wrap his already crimson scarf around her waist, underneath her own jacket. In a quick examination, he concluded it was only a flesh wound, and the bleeding could be stopped easily. Quickly, he zipped up her jacket and repositioned her on his back.

Goddamnit, how could he have done that to her? Abandon her in that potentially fatal situation... it outraged him. He couldn't imagine what would've happened if those claws had dug deeper. His meister would be gone. His Maka would be lost to the depths of death. He'd be trapped insane in this snow globe of life, watching the years go by without heart. Maybe, he would have been stupid enough to shatter the glass of this snow globe. To walk off the cliff. To fall into the dark pits of death. To join her.

He squeezed his eyes tight, trying to imagine this. Imagine death. Nothingness. Absolute nothingness. Not even that black he saw and remembered very well from sleep. It was a frightening concept. But even more frightening, was life without Maka. And that was what brought the tears in his eyes. And that was what finally made him collapse to the ground.

About a half an hour afterwards, the coldness became unbearable as Soul got on his motorcycle and began to seek shelter from the snow. He finally found a cheap hotel outside of Red Square to spend the night, since the sun had retreated from the sky. He carried the half conscious Maka up to their fourth floor room and set her down on the bed, then dressed her with proper bandages. The warmth woke her. The warmth greeted her presence. The room's inviting nature kept Maka together as she slowly became aware of her surroundings. The blur of color and light became clear. But, unable to keep those green eyes open, she let herself tumble back to sleep, unaware of the arms wrapped around her waist.

The next day was slightly hotter, but still freezing. By now, Maka was up and running, dragging Soul behind her. They ran through the snow and in-between buildings where people wouldn't think to go, especially with this monster lurking in the darkness. They had to find it quick, and beat it before it retreated again. They stopped. Maka furrowed her brows as she glanced down the street to her right. Bright blue and red lights streamed against the brick walls. The lights finally caught Soul's attention.

"Police cars?" Maka asked weakly, still tired from the day before.

Soul nodded. "I hear a crowd of people. Let's check it out."

"Okay," she agreed. They took each other's hands and led each other towards the scene, where about fifty were gathered around. The walls of nearby stores were destroyed, several more police cars arrived to examine the area, and an ambulance stood by. Maka and Soul wove through the curious crowd. That was when they heard a boy crying.

Suddenly, the scene became clear to Maka. Standing in front of the crowd, she could see the blotches of red snow scattered around. A blanket covered a body from head to toe. Some blonde hair spilt out.

The girl.

Her violin lay on the snow, covered with her blood. A boy with that same white-blonde hair hunched over the covered body, weeping. Asking, "Why? Why, Sister? Why? WHY HER!?!?!"

Maka's heart sank for the boy. And the girl. The girl with so much talent on that beautiful violin. And she asked herself 'why'. She spun into Soul's arms, hugging him, crying into his chest. Because Soul was her weapon. Just like the girl was the boy's sister. Except, now the boy couldn't cry into his sister's arms anymore. But Maka could cry into Soul's arms. She suddenly felt lucky. Lucky that Soul was still here with her.

But she had no idea the trauma Soul now had in his own heart. How he pictured it different. He didn't see the girl. Instead, he saw Maka lying in the snow. Lifeless. Without a breath. And it was he who was mourning over her dead body. It was he, who wasn't there to protect her. It was he, who wasn't fast enough to get in the way of that beast's claws. _He_ could've been injured. Instead of her. He would have preferred it that way.

So he did something cool guys wouldn't normally do. He rested his head on Maka's and cried with her.

After a while, an officer tapped Soul's shoulder, "Are you guys related to Irina?"

Maka peeked up at the officer, shaking her head. Soul kept his gaze on Maka, who looked like a total wreck.

"I'm sorry," The officer apologized, "But if you aren't related, we need you to leave the site." He turned to the crowd and continued, "We need anyone who isn't related to her to leave now-"

"What happened here?" Soul interrupted him. The officer turned back to Soul and scrunched his eyes. Soul repeated himself, "What the fuck happened here?"

The officer stared at him, dumbfounded. He asked rather curiously and calmly, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be more concerned about the school?"

"Huh?" Maka squeaked.

A woman behind them raised an eyebrow. Her hand was firmly wrapped around a man's arm, presumably her husband. Their rings twinkled in the sunlight. She asked, "You guys don't know? It's been all over the news."

Maka's heart skipped a beat. Soul growled, "What do you mean?"

The man answered, "The new music school got attacked. A couple high schoolers were killed. And I think a teacher..."

"What!?!" Maka and Soul blurted out in unison. Maka stepped away from Soul. Kids were dying. This monster had no mercy at all. She spun around to watch Irina be hauled into the ambulance, and the boy throwing a tantrum. The boy tried to fight the authorities. Kept shouting for his sister. But she'd never hear him again. She'd never come back. She was gone forever. And it wasn't only her; these kids this couple spoke of. The music school. This was all a mess. She looked back at the man and woman and demanded, "Tell us where the school is."

As soon as the couple was finished, Soul and Maka rushed to the motorcycle, parked at the hotel, and sped down the streets. Left. Right. Straight. Straight. Right. Straight. Left. Straight for five blocks, then left again. Maka could smell the stench of blood from afar. Her hands clenched the front of Soul's jacket, her stomach pressed against his back. Her forehead resting on the back of his neck. If they had defeated the potential kishin yesterday, no one would've been killed. It was her fault. She wasn't strong enough.

As soon as he heard her crying, Soul pulled over. His foot touched the ground. Maka must have felt him stop, for she began to cry louder. The wetness of her tears damped the hood of his jacket. She began to slide off the bike, but Soul caught her side. He caught hold of her hand and asked, "You okay?"

The air became heavy with depression. He felt her face against the crook of his neck. In between sobs, she only managed to say, "I... don't... know."

Soul carefully positioned himself to sit backwards on the bike, opening his arm for Maka to cry against his chest once again. It was them alone on that quiet street. And when his foot could no longer support the weight of the bike, they slowly dropped to the ground, sitting on the sidewalk, unsure if they wanted to see the murder site. The music school. The music students. The girl who played violin...

Music. The creature went after the souls of musicians. It hated music. Soul proclaimed his theory to Maka, "It's attracted to the music!"

Maka sniffled as her eyes widened. It made sense. The monster fled in battle to go after the violin. If only they could make music somehow... lure the beast to them...

Soul wiped the last of her tears out of her eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. She opened her mouth to speak of her idea, but Soul beat her to it. He held a finger to her lips and said, "Shh..." He turned his head to look around before whispering into her ear, "I need you to sing, okay?"

"Huh?" Maka didn't know how to sing. She held her breath. She actually had never tried singing anything other than the notes on the piano... Do. Re. Mi. She didn't even know what song to sing. She shook her head. It wouldn't work. "But singing isn't music, Soul. We need _music_."

Soul chuckled and whispered again, "Just try it. I bet you anything that it'll work."

"Okay..." Maka gave in, feeling the emptiness where Soul's human form had just been. In her hand was her scythe again. She stood up, a bit wobbly here and there, due to tiredness. She twirled him a couple times, and sniffled again, trying her best to hold back any more tears. Of course, now that they had a way to find the creature again, she felt a little relieved. But those kids... that girl...

She'll avenge them.

So she started, "_I stare... out the glass door. I feel... like there's no more. Can you tell me how it starts?"_ She suddenly stopped; embarrassed that she could _actually_ sing.

Soul smirked. So she _could_ sing. A little. She did need work, but it'd have to do for now. All the better. But she was stopping, now. That wasn't good. "Keep singing Maka, or else it won't come."

She nodded and continued the song, waiting for the potential kishin soul to show itself. She searched for its soul through the morning air. Waiting. Waiting. Soul took in a long breath. This was it. Their ninety-sixth soul. One more step to his promotion to death scythe. The thought made himself smile and tingle inside. He was ready. Heh, this wasn't just cool... it was awesome.

Maka took a brief pause to let in a gasp. She felt it coming. Its wavelengths hit her skin, creating that pressure she felt yesterday. Her grip on Soul tightened. She wasn't going to let him down. Or the deceased. She was going to avenge them, and get Soul his ninety-sixth soul. And then, his ninety-seven. Then, his ninety-eighth. And soon enough, he'll have his ninety-ninth, and the two of them will be staring face-to-face with a witch. They'll be face-to-face with the line between life and death.

"Don't stop or it'll run away again!" Soul reminded her.

"Whoops," she said before continuing the song. Her voice rung through the morning air, creating vibrations that the monster seemed attracted to. Then, before they knew it, it was there. On the building. Across the street. Staring at them with hungry eyes. Maka kept singing, though. She had to. Or else it'd retreat.

It jumped down to the ground, causing the earth to shake. Maka snickered though her song, picturing the creature dead. Then, she struck first, swinging her scythe against the demon's neck. It howled. And she continued to sing. It brought its claws up, trying to shred Maka to pieces. But, Maka dodged all its attacks. She ducked as it swung its left claw toward her hand. Soul watched her movements, making sure she was alert as she sang. It must have been tricky trying to remember how her song went, as she stumbled over a few words here and there. But the monster still considered it music. That was good.

Maka roundhouse kicked it. She was dominating the fight. Then, she did a flip over it, striking its side unexpectedly. The monster started to show signs of confusion and distrust in its senses.

Soul saw it. He figured it out. "Maka, try to sing in different places."

Maka nodded and ran to the monster's left. Then it's right. She ceased her attacks, instead concentrating on placing different notes around the creature. She sung a low note behind it. Then, a high note in front of it. Soon enough, it became dizzy. Unfortunately, its attacks became unpredictable. One of its attacks knocked Maka backward. She wasn't able to balance herself, so her feet slid from under her. She landed on her face. Getting up, she was once again knocked again. Her back hit the wall, causing it to crumble a bit. She winced.

Soul shouted, "Keep singing!"

"Soul!" She said. "We aren't gonna defeat it with just small attacks!"

Soul nodded. It was Soul Resonance time. They'd have to hurry, though, before it became bored of them.

Suddenly, Soul felt Maka's wavelength extending to him. He looked up at the meister, nodding his head again. He met that wavelength with his own. It wove through Maka's, connecting their souls.

"It's time."

"Yep."

Maka corrected her stance, securing her grip on her scythe. She breathed in, then out. Time slowed down. The beast was coming after them. But they could do it. They could defeat it. Then, she repeated her trademark line, "Hey, kishin! We're here to take your soul!"

"SOUL RESONANCE!"

A gush of air whistled around them, propelling them forward. Soul's blade evaporated, and was replaced with a larger, curvy blade. Maka positioned him over her shoulder, carrying the sparkling blade behind her. She shouted, "WITCH HUNTER!" before making a clean cut through the creature's body. Blood scattered around. It splat against the ground and the front of the buildings around them. The corpse was thrown into the air, but never landed, instead slowly disappearing in midair.

Maka panted as Soul took on his human form. He rubbed the side of his side, exhausted from all the fighting that just occurred. In the corner of his eye, he saw Maka give him the thumbs up.

They watched the soul descend to hover just a few feet off the ground. Soul looked at Maka, who nodded in approval. "Go ahead," she assured him.

He smiled and took the soul into his hands. This was it.

Number ninety-sixth.


	8. Once Upon a Time

**Chapter 8, with all it's symmetry,** is finally here! I was so happy when I figured out this chapter was number eight! It's kind of a dedication to Kidd, and I'm sure he'd be proud. This chapter is also dedicated to my friend, Kim. HI KIM!!!

**I just wanna warn you, though,** this whole back story might not fit in well. I tried my hardest to shape it to fit the manga, for I don't tend to watch the anime much. Also, the ending's somewhat impractical, and I apologize for it. In addition, if something's confusing, try flipping back to chapters five and six. They may have something you didn't catch before.

**And Kidd is totally** out of character. Heh... heh... my bad.

**I promise **to my Soul X Maka fans that we'll get right back on track with that in the next chapter. Hopefully, that'll be up and running next weekend, in not, the weekend afterward. ALSO, at some point before April or May, I may end up doing a re-write and edit of the story. So be watching out for updates on that. You can find updates on my profile.

**As for the 100 review reward,** we're getting extremely close to that, so I need to know what you guys want. See the author note in chapter seven for more detail.

**Enjoy!  
Ki**

I'm suddenly blind.

Suddenly scared.

Suddenly perfectly symmetrical, in this imperfect monstrous way. The feeling in my fingertips have gone away, and num is my lips pressed together. The shivers the cold water gave my tongue. Suddenly, my tragedy has transformed to a drama, my gold eyes meeting the sapphire eyes of Honorable Father. And here we sit face-to-face at a dinner table at his mansion, not too far from Shibusen. A dark room with maroon-painted walls, hasn't been used since Loving Mother was here. I'm sitting in her special gold-carved chair, padded with a lovely multicolored floral pattern. My fingers tap the ends of the armrests. We are quiet. We are calm. We are selfishly impatient for each other's words. Gravity tugs on my shoulders and eyelids.

"Kidd-O," The stern-looking stranger calls me what my mother called me a few hundred years ago. I refuse to speak back.

Honorable Father leans back against his almost identical chair. He bites his lower lip, searching for a way to break this barrier I have built between us - one that may forever trap me in a case of distrust. My Honorable Father cannot be 'Honorable' anymore. Father is just a father who likes to keep secrets.

Father looks at me with guilt and sorrow, but I don't give a damn. I know it wasn't his fault, and it wouldn't have mattered now. She'd already be dead. We outlive humans and weapons alike. That's our curse. And then he coughs and begins to say, "Your mother would've wanted you to be happy right now. She would've calmly pet your hair and told you how much cuter your stripes were today than yesterday."

"Fuck stripes," I murmur with a voice so low, Father is unable to detect my sound. For him, I have not spoken a word, and I'd like to keep him thinking that. Because he decided to not tell me. So why should I tell him anything? Do my feelings matter more than the truth? I think not. Apparently, my feelings are bullshit in his dictionary. This man I knew as my Father was only there because of my Loving Mother. If Loving Mother were not a precious jewel in his life, he would be the man he should've become. The selfish monarch casting shadows upon the world. And I would've been his copy. In fact, I'm certain that I wouldn't exist.

"Your mother," he continues, "Your mother would've wanted to see your smile… one last time…" Father abases his head, his eyes now on the rosy marble table. "I'm sorry."

I held back a tear for my Loving Mother's sake. She wouldn't have wanted to see me cry, would she? She wouldn't have wanted this. She would've told me. She would've told me everything. She would've sat me upon her bed, and told me the story of her life, beginning to end. Starting with her genius brother and her first meister.

"You know that book you're holding right now," He says, "Is a collection of my memories over a span of nine years… addressed to you."

I glare at the little black book in my right hand. No, this is no ordinary journal. When you flip to one of many of the blank pages, you become surrounded in the scene. You're sucked back in time to watch the past, as my Father narrates, talking to his future son. Me.

And I remember the first page clearly. I sat upon the small brick wall of my Grandfather's mansion, watching my seemingly nineteen year old Father blast wavelengths into the emptiness of the evening. His power undeniably increased with every shot, his concentration focused on improvement.

Then, he stopped. Just suddenly stopped. I opened my mouth to tell him to keep practicing, but my voice was unheard. This was the past. I could not interfere.

But I would've stopped, too.

There, passing by along the road, dressed in a kimono of crimson, orange, yellow, rose and violet, was a young thirteen year old girl with long sunflower hair and large golden eyes. Her slanted eyes caught the glow of the sunset as she turned her head towards him. He failed to blink once at this mystery, but he lowered his hands to his sides.

She blushed, realizing my Father had caught her staring. She exclaimed, "Oh! I'm so sorry! I'll leave now!" She turned to leave, but was held still by fate. Her body shook. She couldn't leave. Her feet stayed planted to the ground. Winds blew her towards the mansion, but she braced herself. She looked again at my Father with a horrified look. Tears came out of her eyes as she shouted, "You're disgusting!"

My silent Father raised an eyebrow at the young teenager. "Then leave."

She pressed her eyelids together and asked, "Have you ever seen a rainbow before, you disgusting piece of trash?"

At that point, I couldn't figure out what she was talking about. But later, I would find out that my Loving Mother couldn't stand looking at _anything_ that didn't have every single color possible. And there my Father was, black hair and big black shinigami cloak which was shredded at the edges. The only color that would count were his dull blue eyes. Filthy. Disgusting. Colorless Father.

Father sighed and said, "Immature human soul…"

"I'M NOT HUMAN, YOU BASTARD!" my Loving Mother yelled at him. She took another breath and yelled again, "MY NAME'S TAKARA HAIL AND I'M A WEAPON!"

My Father shrugged and shook his head, not giving a damn whether this girl was human, weapon, witch, or possibly a goddamn powerful cat. He patted the air's dust off his cloak and turned away, heading towards the mansion. "Go home before Honorable Father sees you."

"Screw your father!" Takara spoke loudly. "I wanna know whether or not you've seen a rainbow before!"

My Father peered at the ugly patch of dead grass beneath him. Of course my Father had seen a rainbow before, he's lived about a good thousand years by then. He tapped is foot against the ground. He asked, "What do you think I am? A human?"

"So you're a weapon as well!" My oblivious Mother Takara falsely pointed out.

My Father gave up and sat on the ground to look up at the sunset. If my Mother just would _go away_. She shouldn't be left in front of the mansion alone, though. He would just sit there until she was gone. If he was lucky, she would leave within the next two minutes. Hopefully. He'd seen a sunset thousands of times, and never grew more dull excitement for it. My Father couldn't stand daylight. So bright and happy.

Takara crept closer, and at this point I assumed she was feeling guilt. She probably thought he really hadn't ever seen a rainbow, or didn't know that the colors had names. From the determined look in her eyes, I concluded that she was willing to show this man the light he so desperately needed. Once she was hovering directly above him, she whispered, "Why such a sad-looking fellow? What kind of piece of trash are you?"

He covered his face with his spiky black bangs and replied, "Death is a sad thing."

And later, he'd have a full-on conversation with her. They'd talk about rainbows and death and flowers and blood types. But, of course, Takara would do all the talking. Father, with his old pessimistic attitude, would curse everything, but Loving Mother would tolerate it. She would tolerate his inner madness. She would tolerate that sense of loneliness and hatred. She could. She wanted to. It felt right.

I listened to their conversation, from beginning to end before awaiting the next memory. The next hundred to two hundred memories consist of my parents secretly meeting everyday in front of the mansion. Mother soon found out that Father was a shinigami who called himself Shinigami. She always teased him about having such a boring, colorless name and began to call him Shini-kun. Father's distrust began to loosen, and she finally convinced him to meet her brother.

I sat against the same small brick wall as always, invisible to their world, waiting with my Father for Takara and her brother. It wasn't too soon when that bright sunflower hair peeked out from behind a tree. Afterwards, dark brown hair could be seen under those shadows. It was him. My Genius Uncle.

"Shini-kun!" Takara called out, running onto the dead grass of Father's massive front lawn. Her bare feet pressed against the soggy soil with every step she took, her long hair bouncing behind her.

"Takara!" Father acknowledged, giving her a pat on the shoulder. Then I saw Genius Uncle emerge from behind the tall tree next to the end of the wall. His shaggy hair covered his forehead, and his plaid clothing wrinkled. He stood a foot taller than Takara, and hid his skinny hands in his pockets.

Mother tugged on his shirt, pulling him closer to Father. She introduced him, "Shini-kun, this is my brother!"

I was not prepared for what happened next. Genius Uncle slid a hand out of his pocket and held it out, "Good evening, I'm Eibon."

Father glanced at him, giving him dark blue eyes which looked at him with hate. He asked, "Weapon or meister?"

"Neither, actually, at least not right now," Eibon explained. "My weapon and I are on break. So… I guess you could technically label me a meister."

Loving Mother tapped Eibon's shoulder, attempting to grab hold of his attention, "Don't tell anyone about Shini-kun, remember?"

Ignoring her, Eibon continued to speak, "So it's an honor to be meeting with the next great shinigami. I'm sure you'll be the finest."

"Whatever," Father said coldly as he inched towards Takara. I watched as he continued to roll his eyes at everything else Uncle Eibon said. Back then, it was difficult to gain Father's trust, and I silently applauded my Loving Mother for breaking his barrier. But even with that, I still couldn't accept the fact Eibon was my uncle. It was too farfetched.

So some days, both Hail siblings came. But most of the time, it was just Takara. Father also began to open up more to Eibon. The book told me that is wasn't until a year later, that everything gone wrong. Mother decided to surprise Father that day by bring yet another guest. I didn't know this was coming. I thought everything would be okay. Then, I heard Father's booming voice. Warning: this next memory may cause extreme stress and may trigger suicidal thoughts. Do NOT attempt to close the book.

When I first saw the new person, he was alone. It was winter. He had himself dressed in different dull-colored scarves, his deep black hair covering his face. The person stepped forward on the grass, his steps small and weak. I couldn't see his eyes. I didn't want to see his eyes, for I could tell already that this kid was filled with fear. He was meeting my Father. Of course he'd be afraid. Then, something gold caught my eyes. He was holding a small object with two circular ends. It was fairly small, and I couldn't identify what it was.

My Father looked up. He gritted his teeth and jumped up to his feet. He made two fists with his hands and shouted, "Get out!"

And then it happened… the gold object glowed and evaporated into light. The light took another form next to the person and faded away. There she was, my Loving Mother, standing next to this disgusting filth of a stranger.

"Shini-kun!" Takara squealed. She ran up to Father and hugged him, whispering in his ear, "He's our friend. Be nice, okay?"

The person didn't speak, instead, turning away from the scene. He was quickly grabbed by Loving Mother, and turned around. She yelled in his ear, "You behave, too! It's bad enough that you didn't wear any color today!" She dragged him closer to Father, who didn't let down his guard. His muscles intensified with distrust.

"He's such a scaredy-cat," Takara explained to Father. "Oh! And it's his fourteenth birthday today!"

"Oh," my Father said.

"He's actually my meister," Mother continued. "The one I've been talking about. He has an important request for you. Like a birthday present. Except more long-term!" She giggled and pushed her meister forward, towards Father. He raised an eyebrow. "It's actually kind of for both of us, but it was his idea." She turned to her meister, "Go on, tell him!"

Her meister looked at the ground, not knowing what to say to my all-powerful Father. He planted his shoe into the dirt, digging into it with his foot.

Takara elbow-jabbed him. He squeaked. Then, looking up, he finally said, "T-Teach us!"

Mother threw her arms around her meister's neck and repeated him. "Yeah! Train us to fight better! There's nothing better than being taught by the great Shini-kun himself!" She giggles again.

Father bit his lower lip in thought. He looked at Takara, then at her meister. He shrugged and said, "Well, you are _Takara's_ meister, and she has great potential as a weapon. I guess I could do that."

"YAY!" Takara jumped up into the air and cheered. Her meister nodded and looked down again, embarrassed and thankful. Takara rushed to her meister and grabbed his gloved hands, swinging him around her in a joyful little circle as Father watched.

He eyed this mysterious fourteen-year-old. Something was missing. He asked, "Kid. What's your name?"

Mother and her meister stopped abruptly. She giggled and ordered him, "Tell Shini-kun your name!"

The kid shifted himself in all his clothing. I could've sworn this was the most intense moment of my life. Who was he? Who is my Loving Mother's first meister? Who was this wrapped-up kid with black hair and multiple scarves around his neck and mouth. For the first time, I saw his eyes. Filled with fear and lacking self-confidence. What he said next, changed my view of life forever.

"A-Asura… t-t-he Vajra m-m-meister."

I crashed. I blew up. Shit! SHIT! What the fuck was this? Some kind of joke? My Loving Mother was Asura's _weapon_. His _fucking vajra weapon_! But I couldn't be ashamed. My Loving Mother had nothing to do with Asura's later actions. Thankfully, she was _not_ responsible for his appetite for human souls. It wasn't her fault. At all. That's what I had to keep telling myself in order for me not to close the book. I had to keep going.

I followed Loving Mother and Asura through a series of memories consisting of one-on-two lessons from my father. The two of them gradually grew stronger. Before I knew it, Eibon and his weapon, Easte, joined in, making the class size four. After another year, my Grandfather died a young shinigami, and my Father fell into a small depression before taking the title of Shinigami-sama. Asuma, Takara, Eibon, and Easte proudly agreed to serve under my Father and took residence in the new mansion, the one I live in today.

One day, my Father went on a walk with my Loving Mother around the large grassy field on top of the big hill, where Shibusen would be built in ten years. My Father now wore the mask of Grandfather, constantly hiding his face from his acquaintances. Takara had recently turned sixteen, while Father stayed the appearance of nineteen. She walked barefoot, as always, through the long, tall grass and mentioned, "It's been three years since we met." I walked behind them, listening to their whispers.

"Yeah," My Father agreed. "A lot has happened, huh?"

My Mother giggled. "Yep! And now, you're like the big head-hancho of Death City! I know I've told you this a billion times, but I'm extremely proud of you."

"I'm glad to have pleased Lady Vajra," he joked, stopping to bow to her. She laughed and shoved him to the side. The wind picked up, blowing him backwards. My Father tripped over his cloak and fell into the grass as his mask slid off, showing his blue eyes. He chuckled as Takara ran around him. Her white spring dress flapped in the breeze, the scattered colored polka dots on it shivering on the dress. I folded my arms and shook my head. As usual. When they were alone, they got so playful. They were like puppies, but a tad bit more immature.

Takara sat next to his head and said, "And then _your_ child will take over. And _his_ child… and then the kid after that! I wish I could see it." She lowered herself into the grass and looked at the small, puffy clouds in the sky. "But time isn't fair to people like Asura and I. You get thousands of years, while we're stuck with a mere hundred."

My Father didn't respond to my Loving Mother's usual cheesiness. Instead, he fingered a piece of grass and said, "The grass seems greener today than last week."

"It does, doesn't it?" Takara asked. "And the sky seems bluer today than yesterday. YAY! Summer is coming!" She giggled and both of them sat up at the same time. They stayed quiet for a while, just looking beyond the horizon. I slapped my forehead. The atmosphere had become unbearable for me. It was too quiet, and something about this setup made my bones shiver. I predicted the outcome of this memory. Oh God.

"Takara…" My Father started.

"Yeah?"

"I'm getting tired of this," he admitted. Mother tilted her head in confusion. Her brows slanted outwards. He continued, "You always talk about my future kid. And that mask you made me… all for my kid. What's up with that?"

Takara sighed, "Because he's the future. The future I'll never see."

Then, my Father leaned towards her and wrapped his arm around her waist. She blushed uncontrollably. I laughed. Jeez, this was going to get extremely cheesy, but I would put up with it. He said, "I'm sorry."

She giggled and said, "It's okay. Just pass him a message for me, okay? Tell him that I love him."

"I will," My Father said. "But you have to know something."

"What?" Mother asked.

"I love you, too," He answered. Then, he lowered his head and twisted his neck to face her. "And I'm starting to get extremely jealous over my own child who hasn't even been born yet."

Takara cringed. She looked up at him with big eyes and said, "That's awfully brave of you to say."

"I know," My Father agreed, patting his stomach. "It took a lot of guts." She laughed and hugged him closer to her. I sighed. What an awkward confession. Oh well. Suits them. As I watched them kiss for the first time, I began to wonder who I'll love. I wondered who's going to be that special someone for me, and who's going to be the one who bears my child. But I was too young for that. Shinigamis were not allowed to have sex before they had lived to see two thousand years. My father had only one thousand, yet, my Loving Mother and Father made love two years later. And Asura was not thrilled.

The next memory after that was the first memory of me. My Mother was gifted with the chance to bear my Father's child, and by God, I swear she was the happiest little eighteen year old in the world. I watched her pregnancy, keeping an eye out for her well being. At this point, I loved her. My Mother loved me. And as much as I wanted to follow her everywhere, these were Father's memories, so I was stuck with him most of the time. It wasn't too bad, since the two of them were like magnets.

"Four years after you were born," Father says, "Something in Asura snapped."

I let my grip on the book loosen.

"It wasn't just you. Asura had issues to begin with," My Father explains to me. I sit still, the truth of it all still pressuring me to feel sick. I had no sympathy towards Asura. That son of a bitch. My Mother dreamed of living old and spending the rest of her life with my Father. But he ruined it.

He ate her.

And Father couldn't save her.

He ate her along with thousands of other human souls. And that vajra he used to fight against us three years ago… it was my Loving Mother's shell. Her shell with no soul. When we fought him, I had no idea. I didn't know any of this. Now, Asura is sealed up for good.

Except today, I'm going to find out something that will change my motives for a long long time.

My Father speaks again, "Kidd-O, you're going to like what I'm about to say."

I look up at him, my heart skipping a beat. _What? Tell me already!_

"There might be a way to find Takara's soul."

"Huh?" I gasp.

My Father leans back against his chair and continues, "Of course, Eibon and I started to work on the demon tools soon after Asura ate Takara. There's one called the Kandle."

I immediately grow interested. "The Kandle?"

"It's a confiscating device. You wonder how I confiscate students' collected souls when they make mistakes. I use Kandle," he explains. Then, he leans in towards me, as if there's someone eavesdropping. He whispers, "If we can use Kandle on Asura, we may be able to recover her preserved soul."

That's when I realized everything was half-planned. My Mother's dream was to see the future, and be with Honorable Father and I for as long as she could.

"She'll be back?" I asked.

"Of course! Takara will be back in our arms for the next eighty years!" He assures me, patting my knee and getting up. He straightens out his cloak and says, "I think it's time your Mother gets to see the world again. I'm sure you miss her and she misses you. Well, now, time to see Elizabeth and Patricia… I'm sure they're worried sick over you."

I smile. My Father is once again Honorable.


	9. A Blue Jay

**I apologize for the long wait for this chapter.** To put it simple... I had no time on my hand. Since it's spring break, I'll be able to work more on this story.

**I've decided not to do a rewrite.** I don't have the time, and I'm pretty sure you all can tell I wasn't a good writer when I started the story. Do Re Mi **WILL** change its title, though. The new title is: **Spinning Counter Clockwise**. This change will take place upon the update of chapter ten.

**So...** I'm pissed with the anime. I hate how it goes off the manga, and I hate how it revealed all that stupid stuff about Eibon right after I released chapter 8. I just want to remind all my readers that this story does not follow the anime. It follows the manga. So there. Ha. In your face, Anime!

**And this is a short chapter,** and kind of an important filler. There is a shit load of foreshadowing in here, so you guys need to pay close attention to all the details. Thanks.

**100 REVIEWS!!!! OMGSH!!!! YEEESSS!!! **Thank you all sooo much for this, I really appreciate it. I've already started on the picture. It'll be a small one, cause I don't have the time for those fancy pictures on deviantart. Sorry. But it'll still be amazing.

**And here is your dose of fluff...**  
**Ki**

It wasn't until three weeks later that Soul and Maka came home from their ninety-seventh soul from New York. That Friday, an unexpected surprise came.

"Class dismissed," the masked Shinigami declared to the couple, turning around to wait for their departure. Soul gave Maka a small smirk, reaching out his hand for hers. They exited the class area and through the guillotines, each step carrying them further away from Shinigami. He sighed, slipping off his mask. _It won't be for a while, huh, Takara?_ He sulked, his head dipping under his cloak. _But I'll see you soon. Maybe._

In the hallways, Maka and Soul kept in close distance, their arms wrapped around each other. Air streamed through their mouths, whistling without hesitation through those empty hallways. The bell hadn't rung yet, for they were let out of PR III early that day. And that day was early dismissal for pairing up leftover first year weapons and meisters.

The two hopped onto Soul's bike. He started the engine before speeding off towards the afternoon horizon. They arrived home safely, entering the quiet dim-lit apartment. Soul hung the keys on the hook next to the door while Maka carried herself to the dinning room. A huge sigh escaped her lungs as she stared in exhaustion at the fabric and sewing needles lying lifeless on the table. Another sigh shook the room, except his one came out of her partner's lips, and his breath tickled her shoulder. With his arms wrapped around her, he asked, "What about homework?"

"Already taken care of," Maka replied.

Soul snorted, "But the Halloween Dance isn't another month. If a simple dress is going to take you that long-"

"Soul!" Maka interrupted him. "I haven't even _started_ my dress yet."

"Why can't you just _buy_ one?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she fingered the corners of the five different fabrics. With her lips pressed together, she scanned the variety. There was a nice yellow fabric to her left. Yellow didn't come over her so well, but the floral design gave it a nice appearance. But lying next to the yellow one, was the white one. Its silky texture had caught her eye the other day, but it looked like it should be used for a wedding of some sort. Probably left over fabric from her parents' wedding. And Maka couldn't help but stare at the green one. Speckled with orange and white little dots. And the black one with red stitches, And the sky blue one with stripes of yellow and white. All belonged to her mother.

If Kami is good with the needle than why shouldn't Maka be? It was a traditional concept. Like mother like daughter, like father like son. Repeated over and over again to the children of those who once heard it in their youth. Of course, genetics can be one's excuse when one is clumsy or unintelligent. But when it came to talents and such, it was a thing to _brag_ about. A thing to enjoy. Something to hope for. Especially when someone tries something new.

So when Maka sat down with the sky blue fabric, set herself up, and unintentionally pierced the fine outer layer of her epidermis with that shiny sewing needle quite a few times, she began to have second thoughts. She sighed, setting down the needle. She hadn't given up, but after an hour of aimless poking through fabric, she decided to call it quits for the night. This was something she'd need help from Tsubaki to do. Tsubaki was very excellent with the needle.

The refrigerator blasted out cool air from its interior when Maka pulled it open. She grabbed a bottle of pulp-free orange juice, and then slid into Soul's old jacket and her white sandals. She didn't even tell Soul when she suddenly left the apartment. But when she came back an hour and a half later with her half empty bottle of orange juice, she found Soul's body spread out on the couch.

Maka giggled and ruffled his hair before reopening the fridge and storing the rest of her orange juice. She got in Soul's room and flipped through all his homework. Half was complete. She shook her head with a smile on her face. And it didn't take long for her to change into a large olive colored shirt with the number ninety-six on it and a pair of white shorts. The orange juice was again retrieved, and Maka made herself comfortable on the couch at Soul's feet. It was dark outside.

"Hey," Soul murmured, woken by the movement on the couch.

Maka grabbed his feet in a panic, "I'm sorry! Did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but it's cool," Soul reassured her, lifting his upper body of the couch, shifting himself to a sitting position. "I have to finish homework anyways, huh? Thanks." Maka didn't bother to say 'Your welcome.' He already knew.

She took a swig of her juice and contently exhaled her held breath. Soul disapproved this. He reached for the bottle, but it seemed to move further away. Maka raised an eyebrow. Soul looked at the juice. Maka smiled and gave him the bottle. He took a lengthened sip.

"Now you got my germs," Maka bluntly stated.

"As long as they're yours," Soul countered, taking another long sip. He drained the beverage quickly and tossed it onto the coffee table. The new one. Cause Maka broke the old one.

Maka gave Soul a disgusted look, also known as the damn-you-Soul,-you're-gonna-get-sick look. However, Soul quickly fired back a I've-kissed-you-so-many-times-now,-that-I'm-immune look. Nevertheless, he quickly gave her a small kiss and got up, complaining about his hunger. He hid in his room. He wouldn't be coming out for another hour.

"Finished?" Maka's voice broke through his door after that lonely hour.

Soul chewed at his pencil. Papers were sprawled all over his desk with drops of drool on them. Her knocking woke him up. Why'd this have to be so hard? Wasn't Combat II easy? It was like Physical Education, except it was for weapons to defend themselves without their meisters. Ones who weren't Death Scythes yet. Ones who hadn't reached ninety-nine souls yet. _They_ had. Maka and Soul _have_ collected ninety-nine souls before. In fact, they've collected almost twice the amount. And he knew how to kick ass. Why'd he need that class? Why did that first witch soul have to be a goddamn cat soul? But Partner Resonance III made up for it in coolness.

That weekend sucked, though. It sucked that he hadn't finished Combat homework, hadn't started Partner Resonance homework, _and_ he got so frustrated with European Languages homework that he ripped apart his French poem and threw it out the window. But he had the weekend. He had the whole goddamn entire weekend. And he answered Maka by throwing the pencil at his door.

Maka grunted hugely. "Dinner's ready."

She cracked the new door open. Cause she broke that, too. Peeking inside in between the door and the doorframe, she saw him. Soul. He was beginning to stand, stumbling over his trashcan, catching himself by gripping the edge if the desk. He saw Maka and smiled, "I'm getting old."

"You're only seventeen," Maka pointed out.

"Not for another two weeks," said Soul, who finally reached Maka. His eyelids drooped down, shielding half his ruby eyes from the little amount of dust in the air. Warmth from Soul's arms surrounded Maka. Her confusion caused her to hesitate before hugging him back. Soul spoke, "Is it really only October?" Maka's head nodded into his chest, her face buried into his shirt. "Feels like June. School needs to end. Now."

"You hate Combat don't you? We'll getcha out of there in three month's time. You'll have a free block," Maka explained her plan. "But there's nothing I can do about your other classes."

Soul rested his chin on her head. "That's cool." He smiled and sighed, looking out his new door. Out to the hallway. Empty and quiet. Not for long. His arms pulled Maka towards his bed. He heard her mutter something about dinner, but he ignored it. Without resistance, one cannot take a statement seriously. It's like candy. A person can tell over and over again about their diet, but talking won't stop them from eating. You gotta put it down. Shove it away. But Soul felt no force. No reaction. Only meaningless words.

They flopped onto the bed, their limbs now tangled and their tongues twisted, no more meaningless words escaping either if them. For minutes on end, they rolled and danced to their own rhythm, with innocent limits. This was show, not tell. This was action, not words. Their head spun, their touches in untouchable places. Soul's hand on the bare skin of Maka's back under her shirt, and Maka's breast against his chest. A position they didn't seem to mind. And when Maka was tired, Soul gave her a break, trailing kisses on her collarbone. When he reached the collar of her shirt, he groaned and pressed his forehead against it. Maka giggled hysterically. He said, "I'm surprised we're still clothed."

"You can't pluck off a Blue Jay's feathers, now can you?" Maka sat up with him. "Wouldn't be a _Blue_ Jay anymore."

Soul argued, "It'd still be a Jay."

"But I like the color blue," Maka argued back. "That won't change for a while." She rolled off the bed and straightened out her clothing – that olive shirt and white shorts. Wasn't much to unwrinkle. "Well, like I mentioned about five minutes ago, dinner's ready. And it's getting cold."

Soul cleared his throat as he got off the bed himself, "I'm going to take a… _very_ cold shower first."

Maka froze in her footsteps. _Did he just say… cold shower? _

Soul laughed hard, "Kidding! Kidding! How can I get horny if whenever I try to squeeze you, there's nothing there?"

"MAKA CHOP!!!" A loud crash, bang, and yell. Maka gripped her book tightly as she slammed it onto Soul's head.

"AAAAH, GOD_DAMN_! I thought you were getting too old for that!" Soul hissed as he cautiously rubbed his split head. But then again, he had missed the Maka Chops for a while. He hadn't gotten one since school started. Which was really unusual. Maybe because that was the first sexual joke he had made in a while that _actually_ made fun of her.

Maka grinned and rubbed the dust off her hardcover book. "Never too old for Maka Chops. We'll be seventy years old, sitting in the living room together. You'll insult my breasts and I'll whack you with a copy of _Seldom Hearts_. Now, it's time for dinner. You can take your _cold shower_ afterwards."

"Aw… damn," Soul cursed under his breath. "I'll be disappointed if they're not as big as Blair's by then."

Maka swung the book over her shoulder and threatened, "Don't push it." Before exiting Soul's room, she glanced over at his desk. She knew she'd have to help him with his homework later, but now was dinner time, and her growling stomach hurt. Whistling, she got to the end of the hallway, closing her eyes and inhaling the scent of dinner. It wasn't until she opened her eyes that Soul heard her scream.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Maka dropped her book, tears of anger washing her eyes, "MY DIIIINNER!" Soul rushed to Maka's side to take a peek. He gasped. In broad evening-light, a violet cat tumbled in the food, her mouth stuffed with noodles and chicken. Maka stood frozen, staring at the mess on the dining room table.

Soul lifted a finger towards the cat. "Speaking of Blair…"

The cat giggled, jumping off the table, "Yep! Blair took the weekend off from nursing!" She raised a paw to her mouth and began to lick.

"…"

"…"

"Oh my…" Maka said angrily.

"Oh fuck…" Soul replied.

Ignoring Soul, Maka sighed and said, "Well, I should've locked the front door, huh? Welcome back, but please _knock_ before you enter next time." There wasn't anything she could do about the food, and she couldn't get _that_ angry with Blair. She was just a cat. With lots of magic. But that was besides the point. No way she could get mad at a cat. So she turned to grab the phone. It was too late to make another dinner, so pizza would have to do. "Soul. Blair. What kind of pizza would you like?"

After ordering, Soul and Maka cleaned up the dinner table with calming music playing from the radio. Blair curled up on the couch, obviously pooped. Her eyes drooped. She rolled her head against the back of the couch. Maka gave a weak smile from the dining room and set down her rag. She moved over to the couch and sat next to the cat to pet her back. Blair closed her eyes and purred. Maka suggested, "You must be tired."

"Blair is very tired," she purred. "The hospital has been getting a lot of patients lately. Blair actually became a certified nurse last week."

"Congratulations."

"But that's when everything became chaotic…" Blair sighed. "The world gets complicated, and Blair isn't able to keep up. Blair knows better know. Seeing all the wounded rebels has Blair terrified." She shifted her position and laid her head down on Maka's lap. She swallowed and buried her head in Maka's clothing. "I… I don't know anything anymore. I don't feel like just a cat."

Maka looked down at Blair sympathetically and gave her a small squeeze. "You _aren't_ just a cat. You're a cat with a lot of magic."

"I don't know, Maka," Blair said. "All I know is that there's going to be a lot of work ahead for me."

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Maka asked.

Blair started, "Just a lot of tension over Amperial Island. That little island that just gained its independence. It's not doing so well. Both Spain and we want to make it a territory, especially the Spanish, and the Americans' troops are in there protecting it. So there's been a lot of internal conflict – those who want the island and those who want to stay out of Spain's way."

"What's so great about this Amperial Island?" Maka asked another question curiously.

"Blair doesn't know," Blair said. "Blair hasn't heard a lot of specifics, though Blair _does_ know she'll be getting a lot of patients soon."

"Hmm…" Maka groaned, leaning her head back against the cushions. She stared at the ceiling. This was the first she'd heard about this. It just goes to show how isolated Death City is from the rest of the world. The last thing she had heard about the world was several years ago, when she was ten maybe. North Korea and South Korea had united, and cancer was cured. That was it. Her mother was her only connection to the world. Maka said to Blair, "Well, good luck to you. You'll do fine."

"Thank you, Maka," Blair smiled and curled up again.

The outside became darker when Soul and Maka left Blair alone and retreated to Soul's room again. The two felt a little too relaxed and tired to continue Soul's homework. His arm wrapped around her waist and both of them remained silent for a while, watching the birds through the window sit themselves on the telephone lines. When the sky was a navy blue, Maka said, "I don't know where Mom is right now."

Soul took a deep breath and pressed his cheek against Maka's head. They hadn't heard from Kami in a month or two. Her last postcard was from Hawaii, but she would be long gone from there by now. Soul whispered, "It'll be fine. We really should be doing homework right now."

Maka said, turning her head, "Oh, really? Can't I just relax?"

"Does my Blue Jay need rest?" Soul asked.

"Since when was I _your_ Blue Jay?" Maka rolled her eyes half-heartedly, her question left unanswered as Soul pressed his lips against the back of her neck. His breath lingered against her skin. What was she asking? _Of course_ she was his Blue Jay. It just felt so corny. Like her father. He was corny, too. She had seen him at school today, delivering some papers to Professor Stein's classroom. Thank Shinigami-sama he didn't know she was with Soul. Had he figured out, she'd have to kiss Soul's corpse goodbye. But, he hadn't talked to Papa recently either. She was disconnected from her parents. And suddenly, Maka became lonely.

Soul slid a finger through one of Maka's rubber bands and pulled it loose, letting Maka's hair fall onto her face. Maka groaned and reached behind her to ruffle Soul hair. She sat up and pulled out her other pigtail. Then, she curled up against Soul's chest again and fell asleep.

On Saturday, Maka woke up extra early. She changed into a pair of blue jeans and a yellow loose-collared sweater. Blair was still curled up on the couch as Maka made herself and Soul some coffee. She placed a bowl of milk on the floor and headed out the door, coffee cup in her hand. A small breeze shook the trees, autumn leaves falling to the ground. Maka took one step at a time. Down the stairs. Down the street. Down the alley. She wouldn't go back home for another hour. And when she did, she didn't bother to go inside immediately. Maka sat herself down at the bottom of the stairs to people watch. The paperboy rode by on his bike. The mailman delivered a package to her neighbors. Some birds came to her feet to beg for breadcrumbs. She didn't have any. Chilly gusts of winds tickled her nose as she left it unprotected to tie her hair back in a messy bun.

October was to be a long month.

**REMINDER: **Do Re Mi will now be 'Spinning Counter Clockwise'. Look for 'Spinning Counter Clockwise' within the next week.


	10. Drunk and Betrayed

**Well,** I feel really guilty about changing the title, so it's changed back to Do Re Mi.

**Spring Break is boring.**

**This chapter's short.**

**And stupid.**

**But just remember,** everything will turn out alright in the end. And I'd like to know if I'm pushing the T limit with this chapter. So review, please, because I only got three reviews for last chapter and I'm starting to believe that my story is getting boring for my regular reviewers.

**The picture?** It'll come. I promise. But not soon. Too busy. Family things. Fuck everything.

**Ki  
**

Everyone loves cake. Well, most people. Soul's favorite cake sat on the dinning room table, in a round shape of a soul, covered with whisps of light blue frosting and the number '17' on it. Maka bent over behind it, examining the edges, making sure frosting covered every inch of it. She giggled and slid the cake toward the middle of the table as the party sang along to the popular Birthday Song. As soon as everyone hit the last note, BlackStar shouted, "One more year 'till you're LEGAL!!!!!"

"Does it matter?" Soul asked loudly over all the commotion and excitement, "We're drinking _tonight_!"

The volume of talking grew louder and louder. A couple dozen people high-fived each other. Kidd leaned back on his chair a laughed loudly, commenting on how hard it was to sneak all the beverages out of his Honorable Father's mansion. Ox and Harvar congratulated Soul as Maka began to cut the cake, distributing pieces on plates. The party lined up to receive their pieces of cake and pour any alcoholic drink they might have desired. The living room filled with socialization.

Jackie wobbled to stand up, with a drink in hand. She asked the party, "Just to make sure… there is no one under the age of fifteen? Or above the age of eighteen, right?"

Kidd gave a loud cough and everyone laughed hysterically. Someone shouted, "So how old are 'ya, Kidd-O?"

Kidd shouted back, "SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO!!!!"

BlackStar patted Kidd on the back, "Props to you, man. You still look thirteen." He took a swig of his beer and choked. His coughing allowed a quick recovery.

Kidd stood up and left to sit next to Chrona, who was leaning against the back wall. She quickly noticed his presence and slid down the wall to sit on her heels. Her hand gripped her glass tighter. Kidd gave out a small chuckle and bent down to keep eye contact with her. The shaggy lavender hair had grown out a bit, and pulled back into a ponytail. A white shirt with a black skull hugged her upper body and a black skirt covered her thighs. Kidd asked, "Are you okay?"

Chrona didn't answer at first. She peered down cautiously at her red wine. As much as she wanted to comment about her inability to deal with this new substance, she didn't want to make herself look like a fool. She had to grow up. Stop being a kid. Act normal. She gulped and replied, "Nice party."

"Are you okay?" Kidd repeated himself, insisting on the well being of a good friend. He scooted over to sit on the ground next to her, placing his hand over hers. "You seem very nervous. If you are, I can take you outside for awhile."

"Um…" Chrona hummed, blushing a sweet apple color. Her hand under Kidd's shook, and her lips trembled. She really wanted to. But she'd screw something up and ruin everything. She just knew it. So she replied, "N-no thanks!"

Kidd snorted, "Well, I'm not taking 'No' for an answer." He linked his arm with hers and pulled her up. She reluctantly followed after him, unwillingly linked to him. When they got outside, the entire party cracked up, commenting on how they were _so_ up to something. Liz and Patty defended Kidd by insisting that he wasn't feeling to well because nothing in here is symmetrical. But everyone knew he didn't care about symmetry anymore.

Maka helped herself to some cake, then sank into the couch next to Tsubaki. The ninja weapon turned away from her conversation with Liz and greeted Maka, who didn't look too overjoyed. Maka just sat there, starring off to the other side of the room. There, BlackStar slung his arm over Soul's shoulders, flirting with a few girls from their class. Tsubaki chuckled and mentioned, "He's keeping his cool. Don't worry about it." Maka didn't say anything. She watched them. Soul made a gesture that caused a girl to giggle. One of the two girls swung their hips at BlackStar. He thrust his back at her and both the girls hugged each other with laughter. BlackStar decided to join in the love, and hung himself around the girls' necks. Soul gave a friendly punch at his back and said something Maka couldn't hear.

Maka snorted and stuffed half the cake into her mouth. She didn't want to get involved, even when her insides twisted in jealousy. _They're dunk,_ she told herself. _They are very very drunk._ When the group of four finished their laughing fit, Soul whispered into both of the girls' ears and pointed to Maka. Maka darted her eyes away in time. The girls looked her way. They looked at a small dirty blonde-haired girl in a plaid green shirt and a pair of old ripped jeans. Her face covered in cake. Lots of cake. Looking downwards. At her sandals. Tsubaki whispered, "They're looking at you." Maka lifted her head to the side to give Tsubaki the no-shit-Sherlock look. At that moment, BlackStar waved over to Tsubaki, redirecting the girls' eyes to her. Tsubaki's cheeks glowed pink.

The plate clattered onto the coffee table when Maka set it down. She stood herself up and bit the inside of her cheek. Soul couldn't control his ass, but as long as he stayed in her sight, she'd be a tolerant girlfriend. But this wasn't fair. To be fair, she strutted her way down to the kitchen and poured herself a full glass of sake. At the first touch of her tongue, the alcohol stung. She'd never had any of this shit, but it'd be worth a try tonight. Everyone was drinking, right? And everyone was _just_ fine. She hadn't finished her glass, yet she filled it up again, and then left the kitchen. She passed Ox necking Kim. She passed Kilik chatting with Patty and another dude, telling both of them about how Fire and Thunder were at their Mom's house. She passed Liz and Tsubaki returning to their conversation about college. She finally reached Harvar, who didn't seem to notice her until she tapped his shoulder.

"Whatcha looking at?" Maka asked, fortunately not drunk yet. She found Harvar staring at the window to the area in front of the apartment.

"Just the mailman," Harvar pointed at the man in a white uniform.

Maka sighed, "Ah." She took another sip of sake. In the middle, she looked at Harvar in her corner of her eye. "Want some sake? Or beer or wine or something?"

Harvar shook his head, "Nah, I'm fine… thanks." He looked back and the mailman, but shook his head again and turned back to Maka. "Second thought, do you have… maybe… coffee?"

Without even glancing behind her, she pointed her thumb backwards at BlackStar. She knew right where he was. Of course, he came to the apartment early to help out with set up. In the process, he had downed a gallon of coffee. They were out. "But if you want, I can run to the store and get more."

"Nah."

"It's just around the corner," Maka insisted.

She began to leave to get her coat, when Harvar tugged on her shirt, holding her back. He said, "Forget it. I'm fine."

"Okay."

The two of them leaned on the windowpane, watching the mailman walk away, down the street and into the evening shadows. They continued to just stare out into nowhere for a while. The window itself became cold and icy. Maka's breath stuck to the glass, clinging onto its smooth surface. She took another sip. Long party. Long hours. They'd been dancing and chatting for several hours, now, and everything was getting just a bit old, now. But with this magical sake in her gasp, everything would turn out amazing. She would get drunk, have some fun, go to bed, wake up in Soul's arms…

Or maybe she'd get laid tonight.

She chocked on her sake, her head banging against the window. Harvar immediately straightened her out and grabbed the sake from her hands. Maka suddenly felt pressure on her shoulders, her stomach and lungs as light as a feather. Harvar's concerning words blurred in her head. _I'm too goddamn drunk now. Shit. Shit. _Maka thought. Her heart raced. She had to stop drinking before she got to the point where she wouldn't be able to control herself.

Maka yanked her sake back from Harvar, opening the window and pouring it out onto the stairwell. She handed the glass back to Harvar and slammed the window closed, and then trudged over to the dinning room, where she heard a loud moaning sound coming from her bedroom. Goddamn Ox. Goddamn Kim. She didn't care at this point. It wasn't her fault. _They're_ the one's who'll regret it later. And she'll be the one in the morning to beat them with a book until they washed her sheets.

"Oooox!" Maka heard Kim.

Goddamn them all.

This was not fun.

"You drunk yet?" Tsubaki asked, walking into the dinning room. The upper half of Maka was glued to the kitchen counter. Her eyes were tired. "I saw you drinking all that sake."

"Not entirely. I think I might still be able to prevent myself from raping Soul." She half-heartedly joked. Remembering Soul, she lifted herself up and looked out to the living room to watch him again. This time, he was a few feet away from the girls and BlackStar, taking a small sip of wine. His eyes were closed, but he stood perfectly straight. His body didn't seem to be taking in any effects from the alcohol, but Maka was sure he was drunk. She attempted to make eye contact with him, but just as he opened his eyes to look her way, one of the girls hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Maka almost blew up, but Soul swatted the girl away. Then, she heard him say no. Really loudly.

But just when she thought he was actually sane, he proved her wrong. The other girl had gotten in front of him, pressing her back against his stomach and her ass on his thighs. Maka watched breathlessly as Soul grinded himself against the girl, who in return, latched her legs around one of his thighs. BlackStar gave a whoop.

Maka's jaw dropped. The anger boiled up inside her head. She was about ready to go give that bitch a beating, but she had to tell herself that he was drunk. The girl was drunk. _She_ was drunk. And she knew Soul wouldn't go farther than this. She had to stay calm and get out before she ended up killing someone. She hurried across the room, her destination being her jacket. But she was stopped by a tanned arm. Maka saw the light blue hair. BlackStar held onto her waist. Then, she saw Soul and the girls surrounding her. She yanked herself away, but BlackStar caught her again. He announced, "WE'RE GONNA HAVE A FIVESOME IN SOUL'S ROOM!!!"

Maka's eyes widened, her irises instantly darting to Soul. Had he _actually agreed_ to this? This now seventeen-year-old guy, standing in front of her, who was supposed to be her boyfriend? _Her_ Soul? _He's drunk… he's drunk…_ she kept thinking. _He's drunk, he's drunk, he's drunk!_ Soul bent over to come eye-to-eye with his meister. He spoke, "It'll be cool." He pressed his lips against Maka's, who put up a fight. She struggled against him as he licked her jaw line, moving downwards to suck on her neck while he began to lift her shirt up.

She finally cried, "NOOO! STOP, YOU ASSHOLE!" At this point, she didn't care if he was drunk. She kneed him between the legs, shocking BlackStar, who let go of her. She then slapped Soul with the back of her hand, causing the party to gasp. All fell silent, watching Maka become insane. Maka sped to the door and threw on her jacket. Tears swelled her eyes. She grabbed an empty glass from off the table and threw it at Soul. It purposely missed and shattered against the wall. She threw another one, this time, some beer spilt out. Her crying caused her to stutter and shake, her heavy breathing chopped into long gasps. Through her tears, she said, "I'm getting Harvar his mother-fucking coffee." And she left.

Maka ran down the street, going the opposite direction of the store. Fuck coffee. She hated Soul. She hated how she kept forgiving him with that stupid little excuse. Yes, he was drunk to tears, but his actions were uncalled for! _He's drunk… he's drunk…_ bullshit. Bullshit! _She_ was drunk. Drunk and betrayed. Again. Because her father betrayed her. Soul might as well betray her, also. She ripped off her jacket, suddenly not caring for the cold, and threw it into the gutters. Free from constraints, she picked up speed. Her legs carried her down block after block. She pulled out her messy bun and let her hair bounce on her back. Foggy air of the night surrounded her. Followed her to the center of town. She spotted Kidd and Chrona walking together down the opposite way she came, towards her home. But she didn't stop to greet them. She didn't give a rat's ass.

Before Maka knew it, she arrived at the park. The one she heard music at. The park. On the other side of Death City. She was far, but not far enough. Even with this in mind, she didn't feel the energy to run anymore. Running wouldn't help. Crying wouldn't help. She sucked back her tears and climbed up the stairs of the gazebo. In the center was a grand piano. Someone was too lazy to load it up that night. Midnight seemed to lure her to the piano. Maka stared at the keys. A teardrop splattered on a G key. She sat herself down at the piano and sobbed, her mind restlessly tumbling to the darkness.

Birds chirping. Light pouring into her eyes. Heat warming her skin. When she heard quiet piano notes, she remembered she was at the park. She remembered she ran here. She remembered her tears. But she didn't remember why. The grass underneath her swayed in the wind, tickling her skin. A blanket covered her small form. A rolled up jacket under her head. It was yellow. And black. A sharp pain attacked her head. She grunted. Bad alcohol. She remembered she drank some sake. Harvar and she had watched the mailman. The piano stopped.

"Eat this." Someone said.

A small pill was slid through her lips. Hoping it would kill the headache, Maka took it in. She felt the rim of a water bottle touch her lower lip. She drank up some water and swallowed the pill. A pair of arms wrapped around her, hugging her to the person's chest. The person put a kiss on her cheek and placed her head back on the pillow.

"I'm sorry." It was Soul. Maka struggled to remember what had happened. She remembered her hitting him, then running away. She weakly opened her swollen eyes, finding her lover's ruby ones staring down at hers. Her heart thumped. He continued, "I barely even remember, myself. But whatever I did to deserve this red handprint on the side of my face… it was not cool." He picked up his water bottle and took a long drink. He closed the cap and continued, "But last night, you hit me, and I followed you here. When I got here, you were asleep. So I went back… Kidd started screaming at me about something… everyone was leaving. I grabbed pills. But I don't remember coming back… but I did… and-"

"I shouldn't forgive you," Maka wearily interrupted him. "I shouldn't forgive you."

Soul lowered his face, his nose touching Maka's nose. "What did I do to you?" He stroked her cheek. "Tell me."

Maka moaned in pain. She answered, "I don't know, but I shouldn't forgive you." Soul shook his head and laid down next to Maka, hugging her around her waist. He massaged her arm with his thumb, promising her that everything will be cool. Clouds floated by. Maka watched as one of them, a fish, swam through the sky. The pain in her head refused to go away. Her senses troubled her. Her body wanted to cry, and her head wanted to scream.

Soul commanded again, "Tell me what I did."

Maka began to cry, "You lied to me! That's what you did! You told me you'd stay by my side!" She was remembering. She remembered the girl he danced with. She remembered BlackStar grabbing her. She remembered Soul's drunken kiss, his hand up her shirt. "I told you not to pluck my feathers! I told you not to pluck a Blue Jay's feathers!" She cried, Oh, she cried. But she cried into his chest. She _had_ to forgive him. Quietly, she whispered, "I was scared. You were so drunk."

Soul hugged her tighter. "I'm begging for forgiveness. What exactly did I do?"

"Nothing you'd be too pleased about," Maka snapped coldly at him. She hid herself in the crook of his arm. She felt him petting her back, running his fingers through her uncombed hair. _He was drunk_ she told herself. _He was drunk, he was drunk!_

"I was drunk," Soul repeated her thoughts. She looked at his face, guilt written all over it. The brows above his eyes slanted outwards. Water clung to his lower lids, his face red with embarrassment and anger at himself. Suddenly, he asked an unexpected question, "D-did I…" he gulped, his voice shaking. "Did I rape you?"

Maka chocked, "No! You didn't. You couldn't have anyways, not with all those people there."

"But I would've…"

"No!" Maka cried out, once again with tears running down her cheeks. "You would've caught yourself. I know you would. I trust you. Just don't drink that much ever again! You hear me?"

Soul nodded. "Of course I do. I always do. I'm sorry."

None of them said anything else. They just lay in the grass holding each other until a woman with her child came by. Remembering they were at a public park, the two of them got up and headed home to clean up the mess that awaited them. Neither spoke. Neither replied. When Soul attempted to give Maka a small kiss on the lips, she backed away, requesting that he gave her some time. Being he cool guy he was, he held back. The both of them took pain medication every six hours, until evening came around.

"What's for dinner?" Soul asked.

"Leftovers," Maka replied dryly. She fumbled under the counters for a cooking pan.

Soul stopped her by grabbing her wrist. He suggested, "I'll cook tonight." Maka dismissed herself from Soul's presence and entered her room for the first time for what seemed like weeks. The stench of sex stung her nose. She cringed, then found the courage to rip off the sheets from the mattress and toss them into the wash, along with her other white clothes. The noise of the washing machine filled the apartment. It was just Maka. Soul. The washing machine. And the monster hiding under Soul's bed.

The monster named Guilt.


	11. Ditto

**So it's been a while** because I've been sick with the flu (regular flu, I swear!) and had to do some make-up work and a film project. So I'm back on track, and here's Do Re Mi 11.

**I would like to take a moment** to thank all my readers, reviewers, and Cindy. And to apologize for the delay of the picture. I just can't decide what to draw, so I NEED opinions and suggestions, or else this will all go nowhere.

**Check out** **Godsends** by Sapphire Anime Bubble. I order you to! It's amazing, and the storyline will have you on the edge of your seat the entire way! Don't forget to review it. And Do Re Mi. You all better not forget to review my work, also. ;)

**Ki**

She'll meet him there. Surprise him with that stunning dress Tsubaki and she had been working on for a month. The blue one. With the yellow and white stripes. The doors of Shibusen seemed far, far away. He walked. Because he didn't wanna get his clothes dirty that night. It was their last Halloween ball at Shibusen as students. They'll go off to Enrollment College then. And after that, come back. Come back to the shiny symmetrical halls of the school. Maka would teach. And Soul? He'll be a Death Scythe. For sure. As for his attire, he had dressed in a red long sleeve shirt with a black vest and tie. And Maka would look stunning tonight. He drooled in anticipation. His patience had to withstand it, though, cause it wouldn't be cool to run there just to see Maka in a handmade dress.

Even though secretly, he wanted to see her, he waited outside the doors. Just standing there, listening to the music coming from up above relaxed him. Because he knew he wouldn't have alone time for the rest of the evening after this. Classmates were still uncomfortable with him after his birthday incident, and the thought of that caused him to hesitate even further. Enemy territory and ally territory happened to be in the same room that night. It wasn't that frightening… just really… frightening. He dealt with it at regular school hours because he had a few more advance classes than others, thus not seeing anyone special during the day. Especially not Mel and Thalia. He avoided them during Combat.

After a few minutes, Soul inhaled a long, deep, painful breath and pushed open the doors. He made way up the spiral steps to the ballroom, opening one more door. All the muffled noise he had heard became ten times louder. The colorful decorations caught his eye, and the music proved to be a lot better than last year. He grinned. Maka wasn't just his company here anymore. No… this time, she was his _date_. And he had to go find her.

The worst thing that could happen did. Someone grabbed him from around his neck and squealed in joy. A high-pitched girly voice said, "It's Soul!" Soul grabbed the wrists of the girl and twisted around, coming eye-to-eye with a sunny-haired girl with large orange eyes.

The girl was instantly pulled away from him by a taller silver-haired girl. A scar scratched the skin from her forehead to her jaw-line. The girl threw her to the side and shouted, "You've embarrassed me enough!" She turned to Soul and blushed. She said defensively, "She got into her Mom's secret stash of sake today."

"Mel," Soul angrily spat her name. "You and your sister are to stay away from me. "

Mel corrected him. "She is my _half_-sister. You know that." She pulled Thalia behind her and continued, "Look, we didn't mean to cause any trouble between you and Maka. You probably don't remember, but I told you about Dusty. How he's missing."

Soul scornfully said, "I don't care… Dusty was a bastard anyways…" He remembered the meister who used to pick Mel and Thalia up from Combat class. Dusty's dark orange hair spiked in front of his face, shielding his eyes. Around his neck was always this giant spiked collar and a bunch of chains decorated his black jacket. The kid always had a mysterious aura trailing behind him, and Soul had always kept his distance.

"What if Maka went missing, HUH?" Mel challenged. "What if _your_ meister had gone missing! I don't know where the fuck he is, and there I was at your stupid birthday party getting as drunk as Thalia!" Her voice trembled and water began to leak from her eyes. "I just want to apologize. I hate you avoiding me during Combat. You and Tsubaki are my only friends in that class…"

Soul sighed without care for her and trudged off to the middle of the dance floor, Thalia's and Mel's voices arguing behind him. He didn't care. He didn't care at all. But his smile of the night finally reached his face when his meister looked up at him with those shiny emerald eyes. Those delicate hands of hers touched his face, and that smile of hers broke into a giggle. Soul gave out a half-hearted laugh, too. But Maka said in her most adorable, innocent voice, "Bitch."

Maka must have saw them talking. "Mel isn't actually that bad," Soul said. "It's her half-sister… Thalia… that girl can't get her paws off of sake. She gets such bad hangovers that she ends up ditching Combat in the mornings."

"Still," Maka said, "Anyone who dare gives a kiss to my weapon is a bitch." Then, she got up on her tippy-toes and gave Soul a kiss. When she pulled away, a loud grumble came from her stomach. She blushed. Soul laughed. "Oh… h-ho… oh wow. Well, I-I guess that means it's dinnertime!" Maka explained as she pulled Soul through the crowds to the long tables with plate of food on them.

That was when Soul noticed. Maka wore that night a white halter top and a purple skirt with a black choker. Her hair was bundled in a side ponytail, held together by a purple ribbon. No blue dress. No handmade blue dress. Soul instantly questioned himself… did she finish in time? He'd have to ask Tsubaki later, even though it was his least concern at the moment. Food was within a few feet from him, and getting closer by the millisecond. His stomach was starved. And he was tired, yet, the night hadn't even started. His eyes darted to the beverages and confirmed to him that there was no alcohol.

Food filled his plate and Maka dragged him to the other side of the ballroom where BlackStar and Tsubaki stood, chatting to each other. Soul glared at BlackStar, who instantly noticed Maka and pulled her into the conversation. They hadn't talked since two weeks ago. BlackStar began to whisper something to Maka. Tsubaki grew a blush. Soul became pissed. If BlackStar had something important to say, he could just say it out loud. Then, Maka unexpectedly whispered something back. She spent too much goddamn time at Tsubaki's house. But when she was finished, BlackStar sighed. Once again, Soul found himself being dragged to another corner of the room. This time emptier. BlackStar let go of him, then looked down at his black shoes and muttered something. Soul grunted. Whispering, and now muttering? Was he going deaf? But BlackStar finally turned up the volume of his voice and said much louder, "Dude, I'm sick of this."

Soul rolled his eyes and asked, "Then what do you want, man?"

"Maka's already forgiven me. Why can't you?" BlackStar demanded with the most serious tone he could give. He snorted and folded his arms in a grim manner. This kind of made Soul chuckle, even though he was extremely pissed at this meister. He shook his head and put his food down on a nearby table. BlackStar raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about," Soul pointed out. "You're the one avoiding me. I don't find that cool."

"COOL?" BlackStar questioned. "You think I give a damn about being cool? I just wanna know what's up. Was is that night?"

Soul sneered, "I just don't get how the two of us got so much of that shit in our system. We must have gone insane." They we're both ashamed. About that night. Neither of them wanted to admit it in front of each other. They were men. Minus a year. But if BlackStar asked for forgiveness, he might as well have been cooler than Soul. Soul didn't like that. "You've got my forgiveness, man, but I need yours, too."

"For what?"

"For being an ass and following you," he admitted bluntly.

BlackStar grunted and threw a smack at Soul's upper arm. The both of them laughed and gave each other a high five. Not too long later, BlackStar made eye contact with Tsubaki from the other side of the room. That's when Soul saw his best friend's face light up. BlackStar announced, "I asked her out yesterday."

"Oooh, congrats," Soul said, swinging an arm around his friend's neck and ruffling his hair. He sarcastically mentioned, "You're a real man now."

BlackStar shook him off, "Oh, shuddup!" He ran a few feet away and swung his arms upwards and announced to the heavens, "The great, superior BlackStar has finally gotten a girl! Cha-HOOO!!!" In the realization, he sped over to Tsubaki. Soul watched and he lifted her up and spun her around, her face now turning beat red. Soul shook his head again and rubbed his fore finger and his thumb against his forehead. Maka was right. Everyone was changing. And growing up. And it suddenly amazed him that they were already in their last year of Shibusen. They all would be graduating in eight months. Heading off to Enrollment College. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Maka walked on over to Soul, who continued to watch BlackStar spinning Tsubaki. When Soul didn't notice her, she cleared her throat, breaking him from his trance. Realizing he was staring at something other than Maka, he pretended he was just getting up, "Wha-wha? Who's waking me up this early?" He stretched his arms.

Maka smacked him in the same spot BlackStar had and giggled, "You are undeniably a retard."

"But you still love me."

"Right," Maka noted to herself. She patted Soul where she hit him and assured him that she'd be right back. Soul waited. He carefully adjusted his tie and unbuttoned his vest. Because, seriously, a vest can be worn buttoned or unbuttoned and still look cool. Unbuttoned just looked cooler. He ran his fingers through his white hair and leaned against the wall. Dancing at a ball didn't really suit him. Too crowded. Too formal. Too much unnecessary noise. A girl came through the entrance, and her friend shrieked and gave her a hug. First years. _That_ kind of noise. But he'd sweat it for Maka. 'Cause that's what a cool boyfriend like him did.

But suddenly, he had an idea. And Maka would like this one.

So when Maka returned, she brought along a large brownie, the size of her hand. Soul eyed the brownie and commented on its enormous size. How much of a kid she was. Instead of a Maka Chop, he received a shrug, and a reply with a full mouth. And when she dropped her brownie, he offered to accompany her to the table. Maka did not decline. He snatched the last brownie for her, but ordered, "You can have it if you come with me."

Maka puffed her cheeks and followed him reluctantly. The two of them weaved through the dancing couples and chatting friends. Some of whom they recognized. Some of who they didn't. It wasn't common to run into a student they didn't know. The school had expanded, and more meisters and weapons had come to learn how to fight, since the previous kishin incident had frightened many. They wanted to protect themselves and the ones they loved. Shibusen added two whole hallways and thirty-three more classrooms last year to accommodate the expansion. So the first year class size was triple Maka's and Soul's class size, and the upperclassmen found it hard to keep track of who's who.

A gust of air blew through Maka's hair. Soul and she were outside on the balcony, where conveniently, no one was hanging out. A few kids came outside, but went back inside to protect themselves from the cold. Soul sat against the railing and patted the ground next to him. When Maka hesitated, he held out the brownie. Maka sighed and slid down to the ground, flipping herself over so she was sitting right next to him. He rested an arm around her shoulder and whispered, "Go to sleep."

Maka took a bite of her brownie and said, "I don't want to. Let me eat my brownie." They sat in silence and Maka slowly, but surely, finished her snack. Besides the music, they could hear the crickets chirping and the leaves swiveling in circles on the ground. October; the beginning of the cold, desperate months of autumn and winter. While Soul didn't mind falling leaves and hard winds, he wasn't too fond of the snow. Maka loved the snow. He didn't.

Maka shook off all the crumbs from her skirt. The bits of brownie fell onto the concrete floor. She then brushed them off the ledge, and the crumb fell to the ground below them. She asked, "So what's up?"

Soul pulled her closer and said, "I just figured maybe we could spend some alone time."

"That's what home is for," Maka pointed out, resting her hand on Souls shoulder. "Tsubaki and BlackStar are going to wonder where we are."

Soul pressed his cheek against the top of Maka's head and looked up at the constellations. Several twinkling stars glittered. There, on the roof, he found two figures with their legs dangling off the edge. He instantly recognized them. He replied under his breath, "They have each other."

Maka nodded and closed her eyes and focused on the music. It's soft tempo rang through her ears. It blocked out all the chatter. All the human noise. All the evil in the world. The music proved to be a very well-played piece. But it lacked the heart she heard in Soul's piano playing. Soul. On the piano. One of the best sensations she could ever experience. And without warning, she felt herself approaching sleep.

And she heard that beautiful piano.

Maka awoke on a grassy hill, almost as tall as a mountain. Below, a beach stretched on north and south for hundreds of miles. She stood at the edge of the cliff, looking out to the sea. The sun set and rose, shrinking into that line of horizon, disappearing to let the other side of the world have some of its sunshine. Patches of pink and purple clouds floated over the water, and bursts of oranges, yellows, reds, and rose expanded to sky, created an eye-catching aurora. To her left, that grand piano from the park stood on all four legs, pegged into the soil comforting the grass. A moistened breeze created a damp surface, causing the piano to reflect the colors of the sunset.

Maka pulled out her rubber bands and threw them over the edge. Instead of falling down, the rubber band floated downwards along the breeze, creating tricks in midair. Flipping. Spinning. Soul, at the piano, tapped a few keys. The sound of the notes drifted around her. And in her head, she repeated the names. Do... ti... re... mi... fa.. ti... la... so... re... do... ti... and soon, she felt a rhythm. She sat herself on the edge and looked out to the clear water. She inhaled the ocean air and began to sing so quietly, Soul couldn't hear, "I stare… out the glass door. I feel… like there's no more. Can you tell me how it starts?" She sighed and continued, "I sigh… when there's nothing 'round. I'm high… when everyone's down. Can you pull me to the ground?" She paused suddenly. She couldn't sing. Of course, her voice was okayish, but she didn't know how to actually sing right. Although, when it did come to art, there was no "right way", but to be honest, Maka just didn't have the talent.

So she whistled.

"Stop!"

Maka turned to the piano, where Soul continued to play, focused on a set of notes that could take him back to the beginning of to song. He smiled and shook his head. He spoke. "Sing, Maka. You've gotten much better than before." He stopped to create a fancy set of notes that echoed against the cliff, "Our piano lessons have helped you. Really."

Maka blushed and turned away again. She couldn't sing. There was no way. "No, Soul. I can't do it."

"You have to!" Soul encouraged.

"I won't," Maka replied sternly as she brought herself to the piano to sit next to him on the bench. He ceased his piano playing and finally brought the song to a close. He hit his palm against his forehead, a bit sore from the fast movements of his fingers. "I thought you couldn't hear me anyways," he heard her say under her breath.

Soul tiredly banged on a few of the keys and grunted. But his eyes widened. Somehow, he had created a chord that sounded nice. He turned to Maka and quickly asked, "Did you hear that? Did you see that? Did you see which keys went down? Tell me!" Soul magically pulled a pen and paper out from under the bench. This _was_ their souls, where pretty much anything could happen or be done.

Maka smiled from ear to hear. She had heard it. She had seen it. She knew which notes they were. So she recited them to Soul, and Soul replayed them over and over again. Maka then figured out a melody with those notes. Soon, Maka had taken over the piano keys, and Soul had started to jot down notes in the musical language. And when Maka began to whistle it, she went on to whistle a whole song… one not thought of before. One not heard of before. A newborn melody, untouched by those not Soul and Maka. Because this was to be a song not forgotten until their deaths.

And finally, when the masterpiece seemed finished, Soul carefully set the paper and pencil down on top of the piano. He muttered, "Wow." He couldn't believe they had spent so much time to write a song. "I guess anything could happen here, huh?"

"Yep," Maka agreed.

The two of them retreated inside themselves, just awkwardly noticing how wonderful each other looked that night. The star began to twinkle, and the sun had disappeared below the horizon. A flash of pink lined up with the meeting point of the sky and water. Maka pulled herself up from the piano bench and inched her away towards the grassy end of the cliff. Looking out and down, she smiled. "Soul?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we could fly here? I've always wanted to fly, but I don't think we'd be able to fly in real life, right?" Maka asked, swinging her arm in the air, feeling the wind she created with those movements.

Soul looked her way, dumbfounded, "Uh… no. But I wouldn't try it-!" Suddenly, without looking back at him, Maka fell forward off the cliff, her skirt trailing behind her. Soul stood up, knocking the bench down behind him. "MAAAKA, YOU IDIOT!!!" He ran towards the cliff, swiftly jumping off after her. He expected her flying trick to really work, but he instantly felt gravity pull him down. Screaming in terror, he was falling down head first, his stomach behind him. Air filled his lungs as his life flash before his eyes.

But then, he felt a hand wrap around his wrist. It stopped him from falling. He looked down, noticing he was still in midair. And then he looked up. There was Maka, hovering in space, taking him higher and higher. She giggled, "See? I can fly! You try!"

"No! Wait!" Soul shouted. But despite his protests, Maka let go, and Soul continued to hover in space. Once he noticed he was flying, he chuckled while pointing to the water far below them, "H-hey! I'm doing it!"

"Yep!" Maka acknowledged. "Isn't this cool?"

Soul flew upwards and scooped Maka into his arms. "Yes, only cool guys can fly with their girlfriends in his own soul."

"But you're the only one who can!" Maka pointed out, poking his chest.

"My point exactly," Soul muttered light-heartedly. He let her escape from his gasp. She span around in the air, doing summersaults and backflips while keeping a constant giggle. Soul floated stilly, watching Maka have the time of her life. He sighed, and suddenly began to wonder. Would she be his forever? Would their relationship last them through their lives? And then, the awfully dreadful question hit him: what would happen if he lost her? What would she do if she lost him? Suddenly, he blurted out, "I won't lose you!"

Maka stopped her spinning and gave a confused, "Huh?"

Soul turned away with a slight blush. That was _not_ cool. It was his true thought, but saying it out loud was just embarrassing. Then, he felt two hand on his shoulders. Maka. Behind him. She whispered, "Ditto. I don't know if I could live without you."

Soul couldn't respond. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to get into this. It was too deep of a subject for him to talk about. So, instead, his turned and kissed her. He felt his feet, but no ground under him. That made him smile. Were they the first couple to ever kiss in midair? It was kind of cheesy, but things happen the way they happen, right?

The kiss was broken when they felt ground under their knees. The cold night outside on the balcony of Shibusen hit them hard. Both pulled away fast and gasped. What happened? What had interfered with their personal moment? In midair? Soul heard Maka lose her breath. She saw her looking to her right. So he looked the direction her eyes were pointed at.

There. There was Spirit standing above them with the sourest face a father ever gave. A good portion of the dance was out there, standing behind them. They all knew what was going to happen. Spirit would murder Soul. End of story.

Maka shouted, "I can explain!"

"No, Maka!" Soul held her back. He made eye contact with Spirit. But that was a bad idea. Because he saw an emotion in the Death Scythe's eyes he had never seen before. Hurt. Betrayal. Confusion. Emptiness. Emptiness. Lots of emptiness. Soul opened his mouth, but couldn't speak. Everyone around fell silent. The music had been turned off. Neither Spirit nor Soul broke eye contact. It was a silent war. Bringing more pain than violent, bloody war could ever give. And Soul began to throb in the heart. The guilt spread like wildfire through his body. _We should've told him before hand._ Spirit finally looked down at his shoes. Everyone knew what was going to happen. Spirit would murder Soul. End of story.

But instead, Spirit slowly turned away and disappeared into the crowd. Soul immediately pulled Maka closer as her eyes began to swell with tears. The crowd of people whispered amongst themselves as Maka pressed her face on Soul's shoulder. She said, "I'm so sorry."

Soul stroked her head. "It's not your fault."

The night ended with confused students, a happy oblivious couple on the roof, and the return home of Soul and Maka after a stressful evening.

And that night, Sprit went missing. No one saw him again.


	12. Shocking News

**I apologize for the long wait.** I had to finish up my sophomore curriculum before I even considered updating. But now that I'm on break, I can update frequently.

**I want to bring to your attention** that my profile page contains recent updates, in case a chapter is late. I will update that even more frequently.

**Regarding Our Lives** - my new (short) story for Maka and Soul. It's more of an experimentation, and romance is much more limited than Do Re Mi. It's in an alternate universe and examines what life is like without direct communication. So go read the first chapter.

**The picture?** Haven't started! Because of school. But now I will make it, but I need more suggestions! So far, Cindy wants a picture from the scene where they are in Moscow, but I want approval from everyone else. If you have a different idea, please tell me through a review.

**Speaking of reviews...** I'm not trying to beg for reviews. It just... I've been short on them. They give me confidence and a reason to write. So **please please please**, review for my confidence's sake. And I will update a lot quicker if I get at least **eight more reviews**. Thanks!

**Enjoy this kind of shortish chapter,  
Ki**

Redish leaves swirled on the ground. They crunched under Maka's feet. Her mouth didn't speak under her scarf. There were no words to be spoken, except through the silence of the search party. She felt a pat on her back. She cringed. Her eyes burned with the unknowing… the lost of something she had never gained. Maka heard Kidd say to her, "Honorable Father is anticipating a new Death Scythe from you."

"Yes," Maka smiled softly at the leaves on the ground. She was quickly, but gently embraced by her own weapon, a treasured person she could still hold to her heart. Her feet were numb, but this person kept on keeping her up. Standing up. Through the coldness of the days that had since passed her father's disappearance. She thought she wouldn't care. She thought she wouldn't give a damn. Or cry. She wouldn't cry. But she did anyways. Maka felt herself being pulled up onto the motorbike, and she heard Soul announce to everyone that they could go home. Then, the vibrations of the engine shook through her. Now _this_ was a familiar feeling. Sitting on Soul's bike, her cheek pressed against his back. But the guilt inside of her, and that numbness in her toes seemed to be eating her inside out.

In just a half an hour, Maka was sitting on her bed, her mother's postcards spread out amongst the white sheets. She brushed her fingertips on the glossy surfaces, staring blankly at the colorful scenic photography. The bedroom door opened. Soul invited himself in and sat down next to her, watching her. Then, she said, "It's been six months."

"I'm sorry," Soul apologized, resting his hand on her thigh and bringing her closer. He, too, stared at the stunning photography in the pictures.

"She's hasn't sent me one in six months," she repeated bitterly, stacking up the postcards in chronological order. While whistling _their_ song. She turned over the stack and bound the cards with a rubber band. She tossed them to the side and laid back onto her bed, conveniently pulling Soul down with her. But right now, she couldn't feel him. She couldn't sense his presence. All feeling was lost.

Soul kissed her check, then ran his lips towards her ear. He whispered sweet nothings. Every word made Maka's stomach flip over and turn inside out. "Everything will be alright, Maka." Kiss. "I'm here for you… I'm right here." Kiss.

"Soul…" Maka moaned to his touches. "Stop… pitying me. It's not cool."

But he continued to brush his lips along her cheek, just breathing against her skin. He spoke no words now. His soul invited her in, but she declined, remembering the last time she went there. Her father saw. Everything. They must have been kissing in real-life, too. And now, Papa the pervert was gone. Dead or alive. Not even Shinigami knew. Her teeth clattered. It wasn't even chilly. She yanked her head away from Soul and curled up on the other side of the bed. Her feet angrily swept the photos off the bed.

Soul watched the postcards slide off the bed, a waterfall of them flopping to the ground. He shut his eyes and groaned. There was no way he could think straight when his girlfriend was emitting an aura of self-hate. Best thing he could do was leave her to think. And that's exactly what he did.

After fleeing the room, he sat himself next to the door, extending out his arms to rest on his knees. His favorite television show was on, but he wouldn't feel right about enjoying himself while Maka sulked on her bed. Instead, he slumped near the door and watched the sky out of the far living room window turn gray. It was about as light as it could get at this time of day during the season. The apartment was a mess. A mess that Maka would have to clean later. But that would be a burden. A large burden. So Soul hastily climbed back up to a standing position and used the remains of his energy to retrieve the vacuum. No sense in sitting around. Just gotta keep moving.

It was midnight when Soul finally finished. He checked in on Maka, who was surprisingly awake. Her nose was dug into a book, her mind wandering off into someone else's imagination. Soul smiled and closed the door again. But right when he turned back to go to bed, he heard a crash and a high-pitched scream.

Maka's scream.

He broke down the door with his transformed arm and rushed in, his heart racing. _Maka… Maka… Maka…_ But what he saw angered him rather than worried him.

Black… Star…?

BlackStar was on Maka's bed, hugging the thin mattresses. He moaned, "So this was the bed…"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN MAKA'S ROOM, YOU BASTARD?!?!?!?!" Soul shouted at him, snatching the book from a startled Maka and throwing it at his friend's head. He missed.

"Goddammit, Soul, at… least aim…" Maka whined, magically taking out an even thicker hardcover textbook and slamming it into BlackStar's blue-haired noggin.

"AHHH OW DAMMIT OW!!! THE GREAT BLACKSTAR HAS COME UPON CURIOUSITY!!!!" He exclaimed in pain and pride.

Soul walked over to the bed and asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

BlackStar suddenly burst out into laughter. Soul stood dumbfounded, but Maka clicked. Her jaw dropped. "Oh shit… no… please don't tell me…"

"YEEEEPPP!!!!" BlackStar looked up at her with pleasing eyes and an evil, innocent grin.

Maka shrieked. She suddenly kicked BlackStar's ass, causing him to tumble off the bed. "This bed must be disinfected at ONCE!!!"

Soul stood in the corner as Maka and BlackStar scrambled around the bed, frightened and overreacting. He was still dumbfounded and completely out of the loop. Obviously, something obnoxiously annoying happened, and it obviously wasn't cool. At all. He started by saying, "Um… guys… this isn't cool. What happened?"

And BlackStar decided to break the news pretty damn bluntly, by stating loud and clear, "Kim is pregnant!"

Soul's jaw dropped. His eye twitched. His teeth clenched. "In… Maka's… bed…?"

"Yep!"

"On… my… birthday…?"

"YEP!!!!"

Neither Maka nor Soul slept in her bed for the rest of the year.

The next day, after school, a very exhausted shinigami grabbed the wrist of a very nervous witch and ordered, "You're coming with me."

Kidd pulled Chrona out of the corner she sat in all day in the classroom and dragged her out the front of Shibusen. The day was fairly clam with some light misty winds. But the laughing sun's silhouette was prominent through the haze. Chrona whined and moaned, her feet unable to keep up with Kidd's. What was going on? Did she do something wrong?

"I'm sorry! I'm really, truly sorry!" She squeaked.

"Not now, Chrona," Kidd stated without looking back. "You didn't do anything wrong. Like I've told you over and over again, if you DID do something wrong, I'll tell you."

She looked back, herself, and pointed to Shibusen through the fog, "But I have a training session with Angela and Kim in five minutes!"

"They can wait," Kidd countered again. "Kim is fully capable of taking care of Angela herself."

"That's not what I meant…" Chrona slouched, finally giving in and keeping up Kidd's pace. They walked down several streets, turning lefts and rights. They passed a mirror store. They passed several food markets, a restaurant, and a couple residential areas. Chrona knew exactly where she was, but she had no clue where they were going. But then, they passed a large oak tree with a pointed nose. She remembered. "Agaaain?"

"Yes," he said. "Once a month _at least_ from now on."

"Oh… okay." She squeaked. What Kidd says, goes. For everything. She ran a couple fingers through her long lavender hair, now completely down, save the small purple flower pin on the left side of her head. She sighed when they reached the destination. _Here we go again… how am I supposed to deal with this?_ She thought. _That liar… we were just here a week and a half ago…_ But she was shocked when they passed it. A small shop squished between an antique store and a pawn shop. A beat up sign in front read, 'Berry's Barber'. She tilted her head in confusion as she continued to follow Kidd. "I thought we were visiting Berry again."

Kidd shook his head, "She's not in today. But I did arrange an appointment for the 8th of November." He smiled proudly to the heavens for his accomplishment. That accomplishment being scheduling a hair appointment on a symmetrical numbered day.

Chrona sighed, "That's tomorrow, Kidd."

"Shh… shh…" Kidd silenced her, grabbing her tighter and going at a faster pace. Suddenly, he heard a sniffle. He stopped and turned around to face Chrona. Who was upset. He let go and completely turned her way. "Huh? Are you okay?"

Sniffle. "…is my hair really that unsymmetrical…?" Sniffle. "I'm really… sorry…" Sniffle. "I don't need… this hair… at all… if it's causing everyone… trouble…" She buried her face into her hands, trying to hold back the pain of sobs. Crying was truly painful and annoying when you're the type of person who cries a lot.

"NonononononoNONONO!!!" Kidd hushed her. He grabbed the end of his jacket sleeve and rubbed the stretched fabric onto her eye, wiping away tears. "We just need it trimmed. You know – so you can grow out your hair longer and healthier. I promise!" He said, comforting her. "Here…" He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and patted her. "Walk with me here. There are a few things we need to talk about. And I want to show you something." Chrona calmed herself down and followed Kidd up a small hillside. The grass was dry and dull. She fought the slope of the hillside, her feet carrying her up. She began to shiver in excitement and fear. At the same time. When they reached the top of the hill, Kidd told her, "We're here."

A deep violet glossy rock formation covered the west-facing side of the hill. It sparkled through the light fog, sending shimmers of light to their eyes. Chrona gasped in amazement. Bending down, her hand brushed the smooth crystallization. Kidd patted her back again and said, "This is called 'Fog Rock'. It's unique to Death City and is caused by the opposing sun and moon. It's virtually impossible to break off a piece, since it's a thousand times tougher than diamond."

"Wow…" Chrona awed as she rubbed her finger on a bit of rock protruding out. She grabbed it and tried to break it off. She knew it wouldn't budge. But, unexpectedly, that piece shattered and fell into her hand. She panicked, "K-Kidd… I think I broke it! I'm sorry!"

"No, no…" Kidd explained, "The reason why it's called 'Fog Rock' is because it will absolutely only break apart when it's foggy."

Chrona looked at Kidd and asked, "Why?"

"Not even I know that," Kidd said. "But you can have that piece you're holding. I gotta break some more to give to Liz and Patty."

The witch nodded and fiddled around with her piece while she waited for Kidd to get some more Fog Rock for his weapons. She turned the rock in her fingers and smiled calmly. The world around her was changing. Why did she just suddenly realize that? She felt a bit more secure now that she had been at Shibusen for almost four years. Not only did she change physically, since she now looked a lot more like a girl, but she was starting to see the good things in life. Friendship, family, and love. She couldn't remember the last time she wrote dark poetry, and it seemed that Ragnarok was becoming a lot more independent. Chrona wasn't fun to tease anymore.

"First Dusty… and now Spirit…" Kidd muttered, standing up after finishing. Chrona stood up with him. He continued, "Both have disappeared… and for a reason. But Honorable Father believes their disappearances are not connected at all. We believe that while Spirit left on his own, Dusty may have had no choice."

Chrona became confused and the sudden change of topic. She asked, "Why would Death-Scythe leave so suddenly? He had the best job in all of Shibusen."

"I don't know," Kidd said. "But I have a theory."

"What?"

Kidd slid the rocks in his pocket. "I'd rather keep my thoughts confidential for now. If my theory were to be wrong, we would have been getting our hopes up for nothing." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "But also… I'd like to recruit you for a secret mission." He bent down to tap on the Fog Rock. "During the first foggy day of December, you, Kim, Jackie, BlackStar, Tsubaki, and I will be retrieving the body of Asura."

"Oh… that," Chrona remembered Soul's eighteenth birthday, when she and Kidd took a stroll around Death City. He had explained to her about his mother and Eibon and Asura. But what she couldn't figure out was why he needed a whole team. She asked, "Why so many people?"

"Well, there was going to be Soul and Maka also," Kidd added, "But Honorable Father and I decided that they should concentrate on finishing up promoting Soul. But anyways, Honorable Father sealed up the tomb with two hundred tons of Fog Rock… it would take a long time for one single person to dig it up."

"Oh…"

"…and each person's special ability will come in handy. It'll actually be more fun than difficult. It's just a lot of abiotic obstacles," Kidd finished. "We might have Angela come along to… but only if she wants to-"

"OF COURSE I DO!!!!" A squeaky voice squealed. A small brunette girl bounced over the hillside with a joyous giggle and landed on the Fog Rock. Chrona groaned. She loved children, but her inner self was dying to take _a break_ from Angela. But she couldn't because, of course, she was the one who agreed to take her in. Angela was almost like a little sister to her, now.

"Ah! Angela! I'm so so sorry I didn't come!!!!" Chrona apologized almost dramatically. She cringed a bit, despite knowing she wasn't going to get hit or anything. It was a habit she couldn't break.

Angela hugged Chrona and said, "It's okie-dokey, Chrona! Kimi wasn't there either."

"Huh?" Chrona and Kidd looked at each other in question.

"KIMI IS HAVING A BABY!!!!!" Angela yelled with happiness and a huge smile plastered onto her face. She smiled happily as Kidd and Chrona dramatically fell to the ground in shock.

It was a foggy day, and back at Shibusen, neither half sister desired to attend the next block. So both Mel and Thalia agreed on ditching the rest of the day. Out on the streets of Death City, again. Were two lonely girls who felt out of place in the world. Thalia took a swig of her sake and stumbled a bit, but regained her balance after gripping Mel's shoulder. The two of them made it a few blocks down when they finally reached the flower shop. Thalia set her sake on the bench before following Mel in.

"Hey there, kiddos!" a young man came out from behind the counter wearing a black apron with a iron-on tulip. His messy gray hair curled into his face, but he didn't budge, instead high-fiving Thalia.

Thalia said, "Hey, Husky-Dawg!" The two of them did their secret handshake; two high-fives and a double fist. Mel stood by, twirling a daffodil between her fingers. Her brother and her half-sister were almost like best friends, except more than that. Thalia just _had_ to be Husky's demonic brush. And Husky just _had_ to be Thalia's meister. It worked well, except at that point, the empty space beside her made her feel insecure. _Where are you, Dusty?_ She thought silently. But if her brother was here at the shop, that meant his enrollment college was out for break. She sighed and began to pluck its petals.

Thalia tapped the counter, "So mum is at Berry's?"

"Yeah… escaping from your father. They had a fight over which side if the family gets the shop after the divorce." He began to wipe the counter clean, particularly scraping the rag against a sticky spot. His impatience caused him to create a dent in it.

The girls' eyes widened in sudden panic. Mel asked, "D-d-divorce? Since when was there going to be a divorce?" That would mean yet another father gone. Another one. Another bastard gone. She gripped the flower tightly, squeezing it so that it fell apart when she let go. First a tragedy, and now a divorce? What did she expect? A happy ending? She first lost her dad. Then Dusty. And now Nagi? Died. Disappeared. Divorced.

The world was turning against her.


End file.
